


Heat of The Summer

by RobotVoice



Category: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Drama, F/M, Lemon, Radnid, Romance, Ship, rad x enid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-01-04 11:34:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 24,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18342863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobotVoice/pseuds/RobotVoice
Summary: When Radicles' mating season hits him hard, he makes a mistake that could end his friendship with Enid, and his life.Rated M for some language, mild violence, suggestive themes, and eventually smut/lemons. This is more focused on plot, drama, & fluff than smut, so if that's your fancy, stick around! I may up the rating when the smut hits the fan, but we're not quite there yet ;P





	1. Distractions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Marunita](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marunita/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Mating season](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17434895) by [Marunita](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marunita/pseuds/Marunita). 



> This is kind of a fanfic of a fanfic, the original idea is from the fic "Mating Season", by Marunita. If you love Radnid, go check that fic out too, I'm sure you will love it just as much as I do! I'm very grateful she gave me permission to use her idea, cuz I'm having a LOT of fun writing this. It starts out kinda similar to "Mating season", but then takes the concept in a totally different direction, so read on my friend and have a punch-tacstic day! ^^

The sun rose high in the sky, marking the first day of a golden summer. In the town of Lakewood in the heart of the Neutral Zone, the happy people were eager to don their summer attire and have some fun in the sun. All but one unlucky alien, who sat in the darkest corner of the break room of Gar’s Bodega, trying his best to ignore the warmth of the season. Though it was barely 83 degrees out, the blue Externillian felt as though he had been thrown into an oven, in a sauna, the in the middle of the desert.

“Maizus Cob, it’s hot…” he muttered to himself as he stretched out on the break room couch. He took a deep swig from his water bottle, refreshing his internal water supply currently seeping out of his skin. He’d swapped out his pink pants and tall boots for a pair of shorts and sandals, which helped a little, but not enough. He began to consider slipping into the back of the freezer to cool off for a few minutes when the break room doors swung open.

“Ay Rad, you’re on the clock in five, so-” Enid sauntered in, but stopped as she saw him. Her face filled with disgust and concern.

“Whoa man… you good?” She asked as she approached him. Rad’s eyes briefly looked her over. She still wore her work-issued crop top and her black shorts, but she’d removed her wrapped sleeves and wore flip flops instead of boots.

 _“Damn she shows a lot of skin…”_ He thought. He sat up quickly, surprised at his own thoughts.

“Oh! Yeah, yeah, I’m good, it’s just _really_ hot.” He groaned, reaching up to run his fingers through his sweat-damp hair. Enid cocked an eyebrow.

“You think?” She looked out the window. “I dunno man, I think it’s pretty beautiful out. What, is Planet X like, a winter wonderland or something?” She jokingly asked. Rad thought for a moment. It was true, Planet X typically had longer winters than Earth, and while their summers were hot to an Externillian, they couldn’t compare to an Earth heat wave.

“Pretty much.” He managed with a shrug. Enid tapped her chin.

“Well, I guess Gar wouldn’t mind if I cranked up the air conditioning just a teensie little bit.” She turned on her heel towards the other side of the room and began pressing buttons on the thermostat.

“Thanks Enid…” Rad muttered. As she tinkered with the device, his eyes traversed down her body.

 _“Wow, those are some nice shorts… What’re those made of anyway? Nylon? Pretty tight though, that can’t be comfortable… I bet they’re sticking to her skin in this heat…”_ His eyes widened as he blushed at his own thoughts.

 _“Wait, could it be…?”_ The breakroom hummed as the air conditioning switched on, blasting cool air into the space. Rad sighed in relief, feeling the sensation tingle against his otherwise burning skin.

“Ahh, that’s nice!” He said in a heavy, euphoric sigh. Enid grinned.

“No problem bud.” Enid strided over to the couch and plopped down next to him. She sighed as she stretched out, crossing her arms behind her head. He watched her movement from the corner of his eye, fixated on her crop top, which grew shorter the more she raised her arms and stretched her torso. His eyes practically burned as he spotted the elastic of a sports bra.

“You know… I guess it is pretty hot today.” She gave Rad a side smile.

“I bet it’s nice over on Planet X right now, huh?” Rad removed his eyes from her figure as he tried to think about it. His thoughts were slightly dizzy.

“I dunno. We moved to Earth when I was five, I’ve only visited a few times since.” He managed.

“Hmm.” Enid crossed her ankles. “You ever get homesick?” Rad did a nose-exhale of a laugh.

“Naw. Earth is my home. When I’m on Planet X, I get homesick for _here_.” He relaxed a little as he spoke. Discussing familiarities seemed to distract him from the torturous heat.

“Aw, that’s sweet.” She jumped up. “Whelp, better get back on that grindstone. You ready for this dude?” She asked with her hands on her hips. Rad glanced at her body once more, trying his best to hide the look.

“Yeah I… I’m just gonna go try and clean myself up a little.” Enid nodded approvingly.

“Good idea, you stink!” She said playfully. Rad pouted.

“Hey!” He retorted. Enid laughed.

“It’s okay. You may be stinky, but you’re still my friend.” She winked as she placed a hand on his head. He tensed at the contact, but immediately relaxed once more as he felt her fingers run through his hair and gently grasp the base of his right antenne. She pulled upward, stroking them betwixt her fingers till she reached the bulb and repeated the motion. Rad’s eyes shut tight. A low, rumbling humm emitted from within his chest, making Enid smile wider. She’d learned the trick a few weeks ago. At first, she’d only done it accidentally, in the middle of a play fight. She thought tugging on the cranial appendage would hurt about the same as pulling hair, but had been surprised to discover he had the same reaction to that as a kitty having its ears scratched. After he came down from the high of relaxation it had brought him, he’d yelled at her, and made her promise not to tell anyone, or do it when anyone could see. She had agreed, not only because of his insistence, but because she sort of liked it being their little secret. Only she knew how to make the beast purr. It reminded her of the time he had been transformed into a big kitty.

Rad reveled in the sensation, all other thoughts and feelings melting away with her caress. However, the subtle sensation of his pants tightening broke him away from the heaven on his head.

 _“Oh my Cob, no! Not this, not now, anything but this!”_ Just as he felt a sudden urge he’d never experienced before, the whole thing came to an abrupt end as Enid pulled her hand away. Rad’s eyes blinked open to see Enid standing above him, sporting an innocent and friendly smile. She chuckled and exited, leaving Rad alone in the break room. He sat frozen for a few seconds till he felt an itch on his inner thigh. He went to scratch it, and it immediately traveled to his stomach.

 _“Oh great, a nerve itch. So it’s true, it’s that time again.”_ He stood up slowly, trying his best to ignore the squirming feeling under his skin as he made his way to the employee bathroom. He locked the door and leaned on the wall adjacent to the toilet. For a moment he just stood there, hands on his face, breathing hard. He tried to think of something, _anything_ that could possibly distract him from this feeling. But all his mind could conjure were vivid images of Enid’s body, her smile, her voice, the irresistible urge to grab her face and hold her close whenever she touched his antennae. Cob, the thought of _that,_ her hands up there, working that magic. He suddenly realized his hands were absentmindedly clutching at the buttons of his shorts.

 _“No no no no NO! I can’t do this at work!”_ He internally berated himself. An image of a red-skinned and devil horned Radicles appeared on his left shoulder, lounging on a pitchfork as though it were a flying broomstick.

“Why not?” It asked nonchalantly. “Mating season is already stressful as it is, and now Enid’s gone and made it worse by turning you on! Relaaaaax dude, get your stress out and then you can get back to work!” Rad looked at the little devil skeptically.

“But it’s gross, not to mention unsanitary! And Enid had no idea she was… arousing me…” A second devil Radicles appeared, this one holding his pitchfork on his shoulders like an armrest.

“Oh _really_ ? Did you not see how she was looking at you? Stretching out on the couch like that, messing with the thermostat so you could look as her ass, _touching your antenna._ She _wants_ you dude.” Rad’s heart thudded, his face tightening in anger and frustration.

“Seriously, do I just not have a good side at all!?” Both the devil Rads shrugged.

“Rad? You in there?” A sweet, familiar voice asked. Rad jumped, making both the little devils poof out of existence.

“Uh yeah, just a second!” Rad switched on the cold faucet and quickly splashed his face with the frigid water. He tore a paper towel and vigorously wiped himself clean before unlocking and opening the door. K.O stood before him, looking up with concern.

“Oh hey there lil’ buddy!” Rad exclaimed as he stepped out of the small bathroom. K.O cocked his head.

“Is everything okay Rad? Enid said you were overheating or something?” Rad nodded.

“Yeah it’s uh, it’s a hot one…” He said. He picked up a large box of canned goods with his telekinetic beam and floated it along next to him into the store. K.O’s bare feet patted along as he followed.

“Well I can help you with that! Here!” Rad lowered the box to the floor as he turned to K.O. The robust little boy proudly held up a Frosty Blaze packet in two hands. Rad’s brow furrowed.

“I bought it for you! They’re not just good for cramping, they’re also really good for the hot weather! You can put ‘em in your shirt, or on your neck, or even-”

“Uh, thanks little dude, but I-” Rad’s eye caught sight of Enid, who had just finished up with a customer, and was lifting her legs up on the counter. From his angle, her shorts appeared almost nonexistent behind the counter. Rad gulped, his temperature rising.

“Thank you very much.” He said quickly as he took the pack. K.O grinned, rocking on his heels.

“You’re welcome!” he said cheerfully. Rad watched as K.O bounced off to help more customers. With a sigh of relief he slammed the cool pack against his stomach. He knelt down to restock the cans with one hand as he held the pack with the other, occupying his stressed mind with the simple task.

“Hey Red!” He heard over his shoulder.

“Hey there Enid.” The deep, sultry voice of Red Action replied.

_“Don’t look at them, don’t look at them, do NOT look at them Radicles…”_

“It’s a beautiful day. Drupe and I were gonna hit the pool, you wanna come?” Red asked. Enid groaned.

“Oh my Cob that sounds _amazing_! But… I can’t. The guys really need my help today, plus I think Rad’s sick or something.”

“Ew. Well, we’ll be there for a few hours, you can come by on your break if you wanna.”

“I’d love to! Though, I don’t have a swimsuit… but I like yours!”

 _“Red Action’s wearing a swimsuit??”_ Rad’s stocking slowed as he ached to hear more.

“Thanks! I think Drupe has another you can borrow, you two are about the same size anyway.”

“Really? You think she’d lend me one of her suits? I know her clothes are like, the most important thing in the world to her, or whatever.”

“Ha! Yeah, that’s true. But naw, she’d be cool to share if I asked. So I’ll see you then, yeah?” Unable to restrain himself any longer, Rad turned just enough to see Red Action out the corner of his eye. She wore a bright red, high-waisted bikini and cross-sling top with a matching flip flop on her one good foot. Though she held a pool tube to her side, he could still clearly make out her figure through the pink plastic material. He moved the cool pack further up his body, feeling the sweat and condensation drip down his stomach.

“Yeah sure! See you later!” Enid called after her friend as she exited the Bodega, standing up to give her a wave. Rad’s eyes automatically locked on to her torso as she stretched to wave.

 _“Oh my Cob I have to do something about this.”_ He was about to turn back to the employee bathroom when an idea struck him. He took a deep breath as he hid the cool pack behind his back and strided over to the counter, trying his best to look casual.

“Heya Enid!” He said. Enid looked up boredly.

“Oh hey Rad. You look like you’re feeling better.” Rad nodded.

“Oh I am! Thanks.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“So uh, couldn’t help but overhear, Red Action invited you to the pool?” Enid rolled her eyes.

“Yeah. You can _come_ if you wanna.” Rad blinked with surprise.

“Really?” Visions of bikinis danced through his mind. He shook his head, trying to dismiss the images.

“Oh no, no I…. I just think, you should go ahead and… go. You know, _now_.” Enid stared up at him in disbelief.

“What?” She asked. Rad shrugged.

“Oh you know, cuz uh, well, she invited you and stuff, and you _do_ have the hardest job around here, so…” He trailed off, realizing he didn’t sound convincing at all. However, Enid smiled, holding the weight of her head on one fist.

“That’s true, I basically run this whole place. But I couldn’t do that to you guys, I mean we’re gonna be swamped all day.” Rad shook his head.

“It’s cool, we can handle it! You should go off and have some fun, tell us all about it later!” He began helping her out of her chair as she looked at him in confusion.

“Wait, what’s this all about, you trying to get rid of me or something?” She asked.

“No way! I just know you’d do the same for me if the situation were reversed! Now hurry, you can still catch Red Action, I think I see her tank!” Enid gave him a puzzled glance as he practically pushed her out of the automatic doors.

“Well…. Alright then, if you insist. Wait up Red!” And with that, she ran off after Red Action. Rad watched her run for a moment before reentering the store. He wiped his forehead sighing in relief.

“Phew! That was close.” He muttered to himself. He walked back to the shelf he was restocking.

 _“Now I can just get through the day without Enid distracting me. If I’m lucky there won’t be any more…”_ His ears perked up as he heard a group of giggling girls enter the store.

_“Distractions.”_

  



	2. A Loss of Logic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heat is starting to get the better of poor Radicles

“Cob dammit that was rough…” Rad said in a heavy breath. His shift was finally over, and it was closing time. K.O had worked the counter since Enid had left, but he’d clocked out early after Carol picked him up for a dental appointment. That, and Enid’s absence, left Rad to run the store alone for the last half hour, an eternity, as it felt. Rad now sat on the floor against the counter, fanning himself with a laminated flyer he’d ripped from the wall. The cool pack K.O had given him had eventually succumbed to his heat, and was no longer useful. Thankfully, the only slightly dirty floor was cool enough to soothe him, and no one remained in the store but him.

 _“Since when did Gar’s become babe central??”_ In that day alone, it felt like he’d seen more girls than he’d seen before in his life. Granted, in his current state, an extra curvy water bottle would catch his eye, but still. It had been a physically and mentally stressful day all around. But now the sun was low and orange in the sky, the Earth was beginning to cool for the night, and so was he. Rad closed his eyes and tried to breathe deep for a few moments before it was time for him to lock up. Just as he was beginning to feel more relaxed than he’d felt since he woke up that morning, the ear-piercing ping of the Bodega doors followed by Enid’s distinct laughter made his eyes click open.

“Thanks Red, thanks Drupe! See ya later!” Enid’s voice called back as she entered the store.

 _“Oh no, not now…”_ Rad felt his tension rising once more. Enid placed her hands on her hips and looked around at the empty store with pride.

“Hey, no mobs, no fires, and the place is empty on time!” She turned to Rad with a grin. “You guys did awesome!” Rad looked away.

“No thanks to you…” He murmured. He felt an instant pang of regret as he said it, and silently prayed Enid hadn’t heard.

“What?” She asked. Rad tensed slightly. Enid began to approach him.

“Hey man, you were the one that was telling me to go! It’s not my fault if you had a rough day here.” Rad clenched his sharp teeth, still avoiding eye contact.

“That’s what you think…” He whispered, quieter this time. Enid took a knee in front of him, her eyes filled with vexation.

“Dude, what the heck!? You were acting super cool a few hours ago, what’s going on??” Rad backed into the counter slightly. He noticed her hair was damp and free from her usual ponytail. Her already dark skin seemed slightly tanned from a day in the sun. His eyes wandered down, the thought of tan lines clouding his mind.

“Rad!?” Enid snapped, bringing the alien back to reality.

“I- Well what’s your problem, huh!?” He retorted weakly, unsure of what she had said. Enid looked as though she were about to yell when her face relaxed a little. She scooted closer and took another knee.

_“No no no, don’t sit that close to me, I can’t-”_

“Look, I get it man. Working in the summer sucks, especially for an Externillian who’s bad with the heat, and well, other stuff I guess.” Rad’s eyes widened slightly with a blush creeping across his cheeks as her hand slowly lifted towards his face.

“Let’s just try to chill out, and forget about this okay?” She said in a soft, friendly voice. Rad’s blood pounded in his ears with terror as her hand reached higher, passing his face and making a direct beeline to the top of his head. His breath shook in panic. 

“NO!” He bellowed, swatting her hand away, breathing hard. Enid’s face froze in hurt and shock. Rad’s heart dropped in his chest with regret as he realized that had come out way louder and harsher than he had intended. Enid glared in fury. She lunged forward, gripping his crop top in her fists as she slammed him against the counter.

“What the hell man!? Why are you acting like this!?” Rad clenched his teeth and closed his eyes tight. He was trying his best to contain himself, but he felt that at any second he’d explode. Enid slammed him again.

“TELL ME!” She demanded. Suddenly something within Rad snapped. His eyes clicked open. In an almost automatic motion, he thrust his hands forward and gripped her face. His thumbs pressed into her cheeks just below her eyes, his fingers locking onto her head with her ears between his index and middle fingers. His eyes burned into hers as he sharply brought her forehead to his, and held her there firmly. Enid gasped, frozen in shock. She heard a low rumble emitting from Rad in a similar way as he did when she massaged his antenna. She felt his antenna tough the top of her head, followed by an odd tingle and a shudder from within her. She whimpered, his hands beginning to hurt with their grasp.

“R-Rad!?” Enid squeaked. Rad did not answer. He was breathing heavily, his bottom jaw shaking as he purred, his eyes squinting and rolling back. Enid felt something intense within her, starting at the top of her head and tingling sharply all the way down her body, causing her to shiver. She began to twist and squirm against the sensation pulling at her core. She didn’t know what was going on, but she knew she had to stop it.

Enid grabbed Rad’s wrists, trying to yank his hands away from her, but he was too strong. As she struggled Rad’s purr grew into a growl, causing Enid to panic. Out of pure instinct she swung her arm, swiftly punching Rad in the face. He barked in pain and surprise and his hands finally released, the force of her punch knocking him onto the floor. As soon as she was free, Enid jumped up, panting. She watched Rad curl in on himself, gasping for breath as he babied his jaw with a hand. His antenne were twitching, the bulbs glowing brightly.

* * *

 

“So, what’s wrong with him?” Enid asked. Mr. Logic swept a green scanning device over Rad’s jawline, before popping the mouth apparatus back into place. She'd called him for help when she realized she actually hurt Rad with her blow to his face. Rad cried out in pain, grasping the area for comfort as it resumed it's rightful place. The robot man turned away from the Bodega counter where his patient sat, and faced Enid.

“Apart from the dislocated jaw, Radicles is suffering from a neurochemical imbalance.” Enid’s brow furrowed, looking slightly concerned.

“Is he sick or something?” She asked. Mr. Logic retracted the medical device, returning his robotic hand to normal.

“No, he is not sick. But I believe I should discuss the matter with the patient, _privately_.”  Enid looked from Mr. Logic to Rad, who refused to make eye contact. Without another word, she took her bag from the side of the counter and marched out of the store. Mr. Logic waited till she was gone to turn back to Rad.

“You are going through the Externillian mating cycle, aren’t you?” The robot man asked. Rad glared at the floor ashamedly. Mr. Logic stepped forward.

“I am aware that Externillians prefer to keep their complex mating practices to themselves. There appears to be no Externillian medical literature on the subject that has been translated into English, or any other language for that matter. For this reason I am afraid I am unable to directly assist you at this present time.” Rad laughed joylessly.

“No kidding. Even if you knew everything about it, you still couldn’t help me.” He leaned back slightly, taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry Mr. Logic, but there is _nothing_ logical about the mating cycle… It’s a time when you’ve got all these instincts and emotions, and they totally destroy all reason. And this has been the worst one I’ve had so far. I guess that’s why…” He trailed off, shame and self disgust flooding through him. He dropped his head in his hands, groaning.

 _“Oh Enid… I didn’t mean to…”_ He thought miserably.

“I am afraid I know very little of your condition. But I do know that there is a severe imbalance in your brain chemistry. If it is allowed to continue it will worsen, and will eventually become life threatening.” Rad sat up, his eyes wide and glassy.

“Wha... no, no! I’ve been through this before, and it sucks, but I’m not gonna die from it!” Mr. Logic stood beside Rad, holding up a holographic image of his vitals.

“I am afraid you will. If this is not normal, then something in your biology must be different this time.” Rad’s eyes shook as he looked over the multiple readings of his physiology. Though he couldn’t exactly read any of it, Mr. Logic’s words were infallible.

“What do I do?” He asked desperately. Mr. Logic collapsed the hologram.   

“What do Externillians typically do during this time?” Rad took a deep breath.

“Well… In the past, I’ve always just kinda… toughed it out.” He managed. He didn’t quite feel comfortable saying, “masurbate like there’s no tomorrow” to Mr. Logic.

“The other option is, of course, actually taking a... mate. I’ve heard it all calms way down when you’ve got someone to actually… you know.” He said. Mr. Logic looked at him blankly.

“Is that a possible solution for you?” He asked. Rad immediately shook his head.

“No way! I- I’m only 19, I’m not ready to-” He struggled to speak. His body was still burning, his head heavy and swirling. He felt drunk. Mr. Logic nodded.

“Understood. In that case, I suggest you acquire this book from the library. I have just checked, it is there. All you must do is give this to the librarian, they will give you what you need.” At that he printed a piece of paper from his mouth and handed it to Rad. He scrutinized the blurry black and white receipt to see a picture above a line of numbers and letters. The picture was of a book with Externillian writing on it, though the small size and low resolution of the image made it too hard to read.

“You really think this’ll help me?” he asked. Mr. Logic turned his head slightly.

“I do not know. If it cannot, I suggest you seek assistance from your parents.” The thought made Rad shudder. His parents had always been sex-positive people, and assured him since his very first mating cycle that he could ask them any questions he wished. But to Radicles, it was… just too awkward. He slumped off the counter.

“Thanks Mr. Logic.” He said. Mr. Logic nodded once.

“Of course Radicles. I am happy to help.”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo boy Rad, you've really done it this time.


	3. Freezing Heat

True to Mr. Logic’s words, the library did indeed have the book he sought. When the human librarian delivered it to him, his face instantly filled with embarrassment. Across the cover in bright green letters it read; “The Complete Externillian Reproduction; Biology and Cycle”. Though he could read it immediately, the librarian was clearly ignorant of the book’s contents. He knew any passersby would share the same ignorance, but Rad couldn’t help but take it home with some shame attached. He held it with the front cover pressed into his chest all the way from the librarian’s desk to the front door of his spaceship home. 

“Welcome home sweetie! You’re a little late today, did you get held up at work?” His mother, Theodosia, greeted him in Externillian as he entered the house. She and his father were sitting on the couch curled up together as they watched an Externillian sitcom. Rad scurried off to the turbolift on the other side of the room. 

“Nope, I just went to the library, so I’ll be up in my room studying, don’t bother me!” He replied in one quick breath. His parents stared at the lift in confusion before shrugging it off and returning to their show. 

Rad slammed the book down on his bed before throwing himself into the softness as well. He slapped his hands over his face and breathed into them, reflecting over all that had happened that day. He tried to think of exactly  _ what _ had happened, but it was now all a blur in his mind, like a dream after you wake up. All he knew was that very fiber in his body had been telling him to grab her, to tear those accursed garments from her body, and simply have his way with her, all the while his brain still screaming at him to do anything but. When she had yelled at him, he couldn’t remember what she’d said, only that her voice was…. Exciting and arousing. When she grabbed him and displayed her strength, it threw him over the edge. The next thing he knew, he was grabbing her face. Not to kiss her, or even to hurt her, just to…  _ grab her face _ . It had felt so good to have her there in his hands. Almost enough to calm all the stress and discomfort of his cycle. 

He sighed deeply as he removed his hands from his face. He stared up at his ceiling, littered with glow-in-the-dark star stickers. His parents had put them there when they first moved to Earth, and he had loved them so much he’d never removed them. He turned to the book next to him and pursed his lips thoughtfully. It was going to be difficult to read it. He was pretty much fluent in Externillian, but since he had been raised with mostly human English, that was essentially his first language. And besides, this didn’t exactly look like an easy read. With a solution already in place, he sat up and slid open his bedside drawer. He pawed through the miscellaneous objects in the drawer till he found what he was looking for. A single piece of glass-like material with a slim plastic handle on one side. The whole thing was scarcely the size of his hand, and had only one button. He switched the device on, activating it’s yellow glow, and turned back to his book, opening to the front page. He slid the thin translator into the book, transforming the words into English wherever it covered. He swept his eyes across the first chapter;  _ Reaching Sexual Maturity _ .

* * *

Enid pounded the haunted house’s heavy front door open with one swift kick. Closing it again with a second kick, she marched through the entry hall making her way to her room. Her trek was suddenly halted by her father, who stepped out in front of her wearing a red-stained apron and chef’s hat.

“Enid! What have we told you about slamming doors!?” He barked with both paws on his hips. Enid inhaled through her teeth in frustration. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sorry, I know, it won’t happen again.” She poofed past him, leaving a tree stump in her wake as she hurried down the dark hall. 

“But Enid!” Her father called after her. He heard her bedroom door slam and sighed. 

“Oh my love, whatever shall we do with her?” He asked sadly as he looked up. His wife in her bat form crawled out from atop his puffy chef’s hat. 

“Oh darling, you know by now there’s nothing we  _ can _ do. It’s the way of the teenager. We’re just gonna have to wait it out.” She rolled off of his head, transforming into her humanoid form. Boris and Icky came bouncing down from the ceiling. Boris looked up at his father and pointed down the hall, chattering intelligibly. The werewolf shook his head. 

“No sweetie, she’s just being a teenager, like your mother says.” Icky shook his head and crossed his arms, chattering in the same manner as his twin. Both of his parents laughed heartily. 

“Oh no, of course you won’t! You two are gonna be our perfect little buddies forever, aren’t ya?” He held out his arms to embrace his sons. 

* * *

Enid dropped her bag onto the floor, sliding down the door with her face in her hands. The place where Rad had grabbed her burned with the memory. It hadn’t hurt, but the shock of it had seriously thrown her off. All of it had thrown her off. Rad’s behavior, his apparent mood swings, and then… She shuddered.

_ “Rad would never do anything to hurt me… he didn’t hurt me. But that was definitely not normal....”  _ Her mind began to drift with nostalgia, reflecting on their friendship. Rad was her best friend in the whole world. They’d gotten into all kinds of fights, both verbal and physical, but nothing like  _ that _ . Hell, she would have found it more normal if he  _ had  _ attacked her or something, but what he had done was no attack. No matter how she looked at it, she could find no explanation for his behavior. She thought back to what Mr. Logic had said; a “neurochemical imbalance”. She knew that meant something was off deep in his brain, but that still left a multitude of questions open-ended.  

_ “What did I do wrong? What is going on with you Rad!?”  _ She thumped her head against the door, groaning in frustration and misery. 

She’d been feeling on edge since she’d released herself from his grasp, and not in the normal, irritated kind of way she often found herself in. This was different, a deep, all-over kind of tension similar to the way your skin doesn’t feel like it fits right when you’re dehydrated. Enid ripped open her pack and pulled out a water bottle, popping open the nozzle and taking three large gulps. Once she’d taken her fill, she slammed the bottle down on the floor, wiping her mouth and gasping for air. The cool liquid was refreshing, and yet the tense feeling persisted, growing into an irritating tingle below the surface of her skin. Enid ran her fingers though her chlorine-stiff hair, and realized she hadn’t showered since she left the pool. She stood up, kicking off her flip flops. 

_ “Yeah, that’s gotta be it. Just gonna take a nice shower, shake this feeling off… Rad and I can work this out in the morning, can’t we?”  _ Her thoughts were hopeful, but her mind was growing erratic. The prickling tingle of her skin was now an itching underneath her clothes. She shuffled into her bathroom, feeling grateful she had it all to herself. Ignoring her reflection, she wrestled out of her top and shorts, chucking each garment back into her room. She then stepped into the shower, and switched on the tap, yelping as freezing water came pounding down on her skin.

“Ack, why’s the water so cold!?” She wailed. Braving the freezing droplets, Enid gripped the handle, twisting it towards the heat. She waited a moment more, but felt the temperature rise only slightly. With frustration and impatience, she twisted the handle all the way onto high heat. She breathed deeply as the little alcove began filling with steam. She dipped her head into the burning stream, moaning luxuriously as the water soaked her purple hair, and the heat engulfed her skull. She lifted her head, feeling the hot streams of liquid pour down her face. For a while, the water was soothing against her skin, but after a moment it grew cool once more. She pulled back from the stream, shaking her soaked hair from her face. She looked around wildly with blurry eyes, seeing the steam still rising high above her. She began to wail as her body shivered, the water burning-cold against her skin. Giving up, she shut the water off, and sat on the floor of the shower. Her body shook, causing her to curl into herself, gripping her legs tightly against her body. She felt sick, heightening her tension and discomfort. Her skin had been tinted red by the heat and pressure of the water. As soon as she saw the redness, she began to itch painfully. She reached down and scratched, but the itch only grew, traveling up her legs. Thumping her head against the shower wall she began to whimper loudly. 

_ “What is happening to me!?”  _

 


	4. The Mating Process

“Here’s what’s happening to you.” Rad muttered along with the book. Finally, he’d found something important. He already knew about his basic biology, the heats he went through every few months, and all of that. He wanted to know why this time it was so much more intense.

_ As you age, your mating cycles will become harder and harder to ignore. By the ages of 17-20, your body will not only experience the mating cycle, it will begin to instinctively seek out a viable mate.  _

He considered this briefly. It was true, in the past it was pretty easy to get through the mating cycles. Teenage horniness was pretty standard for any species, the only difference for Externillians was that it came in cycles. All he had to do was keep himself satisfied, and try his best not to spend too much time around girls, and he was good as gold. But this time it was harder. Masturbating didn’t seem to have the same relief as it used to, and the urge to approach every grown female he encountered was more difficult than it ever had been. Especially, for whatever reason why, when it came to Enid. He read on.

_ By this period, your mate may have already been selected. If not, you may experience a pull towards one person in particular. This person is most commonly a friend whom you know and trust intimately, or an individual you have held a lasting attraction for. Regardless of your selection, this sudden urge to pursue that person is referred to as “Imprinting”. While imprinting and love are not mutually exclusive, the two are easily confused during the mating cycle.  _

Rad’s eyes widened. He had never considered anything like _that_ . Every girl caught his eye during his mating cycle, but as he read, he realized just how much he’d been thinking about Enid lately. He’d been in denial of it, there was no possible way he could have _imprinted_ on Enid… was there?

Rad leaned back against his pillows thinking deeply. He hadn’t thought much of her when they first met, but when she’d delivered that first flaming kick to his heart and displayed her power, he was instantly hooked. Making friends with her after that had been awkward, but somehow they seemed to click after a while. Despite what most people seemed to think, they had a lot in common. He assumed Enid had forgotten all about that disastrous date. Until of course Cupid showed up and rattled that skeleton straight out of the closet. He sighed at the memory. That second date played back vividly in his mind. He’d tried to tell her how much he wished he hadn’t ruined the first one. If he hadn’t then maybe… maybe they could’ve been a real couple by now.

He shook his head and continued flipping through the book. So far nothing had helped, and he was growing impatient. As he flipped, he suddenly stopped, a particular image catching his eye. It was a simple, minimalist drawing of two Externillians with their foreheads pressed together, both holding eachother’s faces. The Externillians were smiling peacefully, the tips of their antenne touching with cartoony lines indicating their glow. He placed the translator over the page and read eagerly.

 

_ The Mating Bond  _

_ While Sex can occur without mating, the mating ritual is an action done between partners when they have chosen to become mates. Oftentimes the process is reserved for after marriage. The mating process is a serious emotional and psychological commitment, and should only be done when both parties are certain they are ready. The process can be forced, but not without risking brain damage for both involved. Once the process has started, it is vital that it continue uninterrupted. Stopping the process before completion can result in severe neurological harm to both parties involved. If the process is halted or interrupted in any way, the only solution is to begin the process again, and resume to full completion. If not, both individuals’ brains will gradually degrade, resulting in their inevitable deaths. Following interruption, each party has a maximum of four days before death is inevitable. By that point, permanent damage will have already occured. If the process is resumed in time, each partner’s brains will heal in a matter of days to weeks without complication.  _

_ For the commencement of a true mating process, here is what must be done. Two mates will come together in a safe and private place. While others can be present to witness the procedure, it is best for the couple to be alone to prevent distraction or interruption. Each mate will hold eachother’s faces as shown above. This is when the bonding process begins. The capitulums of both partners will glow, and automatically gravitate, connecting together. This establishes the neural link between the mates. Once the link has been made, the nervous systems of each partner will begin to connect. The temperatures, breathing, heartbeats, and tactile sensations of each partner will synchronize, and the mates will temporarily become one. For a full mating experience, the couple must remain bonded for at least 30 minutes, or until both mates feel that they are properly synchronized. At this point, separation must be done slowly and gently. The antenne of both partners will disconnect on their own, at which point the mates may remove their hands from eachother’s faces. Once separated, the telepathic neural link will maintain for a maximum of five hours, and a minimum of three hours. During this period, the couple will continue to experience eachother’s physical sensations in perfect harmony, increasing the pleasure and intimacy of sex beyond the typical experience.  _

Rad lowered the book onto his lap, his head swimming with all he had just learned. Firstly, not only could he do _that_ , but by forcing it he had basically assaulted her mind, and he didn’t even know what he was doing. Second, because of what he had done, he had caused himself brain damage, and even if he hadn’t yet, brain damage was definitely going to happen very soon. And thirdly, if he didn’t get someone to help him finish the process, he was going to die in just four days. Rad dropped the book and cradled his head in his hands, a deep pain clenching his skull. Not only was his life apparently in danger, but he had basically… _brain-raped_ Enid, and the whole thing was a blur in his mind. As far as he could see, there was no solution here. There was no way Enid would ever forgive him once he told her the truth of what he had done. And even if she did, she couldn’t possibly help him complete the process. Deep emotional and psychological commitment aside, Enid was not Externillian. She had no antenne, she probably had no biological reaction to what he had done, nor could she commence a mating process, even if she wanted to. On top of that, he had no hope of finding a mate in three days. He was light years away from Planet X, and even if he could get there in time, it’s not like anyone would be willing to just help him out.

 _“I am going to die. I am going to lose my best friend in the whole universe, and then I am going to die. And I’m not even 20 yet…”_ He began to panic. He had no idea how he was going to tell Enid, or his parents. They were going to be so disappointed, and scared, and possibly even blame themselves for not telling him about all of this in the first place. All of the new information was making his brain ache. His body was still burning, and his emotions were fluctuating wildly. He felt as though he were being tortured.

“Sweetie?” A gentle voice interrupted his suffering. He relaxed slightly at the surprisingly comforting voice of his mother, and looked up with blurry eyes to see her at the door. Quickly shoving the book under his pillow he sat up.

“Hey mom.” He replied, trying to sound as normal as possible. Theodosia smiled as she approached.

“I brought you some dinner. Thought you could take a little break from your studying.” She held out a plate with a large helping of her signature casserole. Rad felt a twist of nausea mixed with hunger deep in his gut. He loved her cooking, and he hadn’t eaten since breakfast, but in this state he wasn’t sure if he could stomach it. However, in an attempt to retain his feign normalcy, he smiled and accepted the plate.

“Awesome, thanks mom!” He said. He stared at the curvy fork for a moment before poking at the food. Theodosia sat beside him on his bed.

“Radicles, are you sure you’re feeling alright? You look rather _blue_.” She spoke with genuine concern, but giggled at the Externillan joke. The human English language was so easy to poke fun at. Rad took a bite of the savory meal and relaxed into the flavor. He hadn’t quite realized how hungry he really was.

“Yeah I’m uh jus’...” He shovelled his food into his mouth, his body seeming to accept it as some sort of substitute for what he truly wanted. Finally he gulped and took a deep gasp of air through his now empty mouth.

“I’ve just been, you know… working really hard and uh, worrying about college coming up and stuff…” He spoke absentmindedly, feeling waves of relief flow through him from his full stomach. Theodosia nodded sympathetically.

“Oh I know baby, it’s a tough time.” She placed her hand on his bare shoulder. He flinched at the cold sensation, causing her to pull her hand back with a look of concern.

“Why Radicles, you’re burning up!” She stood and placed her hand on his forehead. Rad stifled a gasp. The temperature difference of her skin against his was practically enough to give him a brain freeze. She moved her hand from his forehead to his cheek.

“You may have a fever sweetie… maybe you should call in sick to work tomorrow.” Rad thought about her suggestion many times prior. It was tempting, and before reading the book he may have done just that. But now that he knew all he had just learned… He had to apologize to Enid and try to make it right, while he still had time. He took his mother’s hand from his cheek and squeezed it gently.

“No, I’ll be okay. I just need some sleep, that’s all.” His mother looked less than convinced, but nodded.

“If you say so honey… you go ahead and tuck in, I’ll bring you some water.” At that she headed back down through the turbo lift. Rad sighed.

 _“Okay… staying up and stressing out isn’t gonna fix anything. Maybe if I….”_ He looked at his pillow, feeling his body practically gravitating towards the plush softness of his bed. Normally during his cycle, he couldn’t help but pleasure himself before bed, purely to calm down, but right now he was too distressed and tired to bother. He slowly laid down, his vision blurry with exhaustion.

 _“Maybe if I just sleep, I can… figure this out…”_ He thought as he shuffled under the covers. He normally slept naked, but in his current state he lacked the strength to undress himself. As soon as the thin blankets covered him, his brain began to lull itself to sleep. His dreams were already forming in his mind, clouding out reality.  

“Enid…” He whispered as his last ounce of consciousness slipped away.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rad, Rad, Rad, you've really stepped in it now, huh?  
> I'm still busy writing this, but I've been struggling with the middle part as well as the conclusion, so my rate of publication may not be steady. Don't worry though, I don't plan on abandoning this fic anytime soon ;3


	5. Steamy Dreaming

As soon as the shower had grown too cold for her to sit there any more, Enid lifted herself and stepped out. The freezing cold air outside of the alcove caused her to flinch and shiver harder. She groaned as she quickly snatched her purple towel from it’s usual hanging space. She wrapped the soft fabric around herself, desperate for protection against the chill. She rocked to and fro, trying to stimulate her muscles enough to warm them up a little, or at least to stop itching and shivering so much. She looked down at her still-wet body, covered only by a beach-size towel. 

“I should really get one of those king-sized towels….” She gripped the fabric of the towel and began drying herself. She scrubbed vigorousy against the itching and droplets. 

“Go… away!” She growled through clenched teeth as she scrubbed harder to alleviate the irritation below her skin. As her skin went redder than before, and no relief came, she gave up. She wailed in frustration and pain as she wearily stood and tromped back to her room. 

Enid thought of getting dressed and joining her family for dinner, but as soon as she saw her bed she felt overcome with exhaustion and a desire to be wrapped up in the soft, puffy blankets. She climbed in, laying her towel out on her pillow and suffled under the covers. The fabrics surrounding her were like ice against her skin. She began to ache from shivering. 

_ “It’ll warm up in a minute, I just have to….”  _ She shifted, curling up as she pulled the blanket around her. She rubbed her legs together to generate some heat. 

_ “Relax….”  _ She closed her eyes and tried to soothe herself with calming thoughts. 

_ “Beaches! I love those…. Waves crashing, the warm summer sun on the sand, my friends playing volleyball with me. Rad jumping up to spike a K.O fire-volleyball to me. He’s wearing those swimming trunks that get all nice and tight when he gets wet…. Damn he’s really ripped…”  _ Her eyes clicked open. 

_ “Wait, what??”  _ She questioned herself. As she received no reply, she burrowed deeper into the covers. 

“Where the hell did that come from??” She muttered to herself. It wasn’t like she hadn’t noticed Rad’s physique before. Hell, she liked him even before he’d grown into an absolute beefcake. But to think about it so randomly, without him even around, and the way she felt when her mind recalled those rippling abs…. 

“Agh, no!” Enid groaned, trying hard not to think of it again. Instead she thought once more of the weirdness that had occured just a while ago. She placed a hand on her cheek, remembering once more how it had felt when he had grabbed her. It was so sudden, and so unexplainable, it had scared her. But now that she had some time to reflect, it was more interesting than scary. She had no idea why he would ever do such a thing, or what he was hoping to accomplish. But she did know it had some effect on her. She felt a powerful tingle down her spine as she remembered the sensation she’d experienced as he held her there. It was like nothing she’d felt before. It was… thrilling and…. somewhat pleasurable, but at the same time, incredibly anxiety inducing. She’d felt a spark of pain as she punched Rad and ripped the two of them apart. The memory of that sent an ache clenching from the top of her head all the way down to her gut.

_ “Oh cob, Rad….”  _ Enid thought as she curled in on herself against the pain. 

_ “What did you do?” _ She rolled on her back to peek up at the ceiling just above the hem of her quilt. 

_ “I’ve still gotta go to work tomorrow….” _ She remembered anxiously. She thought of walking in there and seeing Rad, but she could no longer imagine him just as Rad. The alien man she once only thought of in the way of doing his weird, goofy macho act as he played around with her and K.O was dissolved. She now only saw those harsh, dilated eyes piercing her soul, those huge hands gripping her tight, that body she wanted so badly to get closer to.

_ “What!? Enid, stop that! You stop that right now!”  _ She pulled the blankets over her head as if trying to smother the thoughts within her mind. But she just couldn’t. Her mind ignored her resistance and continued thinking about Rad. His burning hot blue skin, those incredibly ripped arms, that deep purr-like growl he made whenever he touched his antenne. And damn… that  _ bod _ . Despite the weirdness of thinking of her best friend in such a way, it was simply a fact that Rad had a fantastic body. 

_ “But why am I thinking about that NOW??”  _ She internally interrogated herself. 

_ “Especially after what he did at the Bodega earlier….”  _ She sighed. All the conflicting thoughts swirling through her mind were beginning to exhaust her. Her head was still aching and the discomfort of the rest of her body was starting to weigh her down. She rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. 

_ “I’m just gonna sleep this off…. I can fix this mess with Rad in the morning, right?” _ She yawned deeply. 

“Yeah… Rad and I can…. Rad….” She mumbled before her mind drifted off to sleep. 

* * *

_ “Mmmh, Enid…” _

_ “Oh Rad…”  _ She moaned. She felt his hands slide down her body, leaving gentle trails from his claws his their wake. She shivered with pleasure at the sensation. 

_ “Your body is so perfect…”  _ She felt his whisper in her ear sending tingles down her spine. 

_ “Mmh, yours too…” _ She replied in a breath. She felt his hand trail all the way down to her bare thighs, curving around each limb and lifting them at the knees. 

_ “You’re so wet… are you ready baby?”  _ Enid lifted her torso and parted her legs further. 

_ “God yes…”  _ She felt a powerful burst of pleasure emitting from her core. Rad’s purr rumbled against her and gradually shifted to a growling moan. 

_ “Oh… my… cob….”  _ Enid whined between gasps and moans. 

_ “Enid, oh Enid!”  _ Rad’s voice moaned along with her. 

_ “Rad!” _

* * *

“AGH!”

Enid awoke in a cold sweat, jumping to a sitting position in her bed. She looked around her room at the faint morning light illuminating from her window. She placed a hand on her bare chest and shivered. It was still cold, and she was still undressed. She laid back down and pulled the blanket back over her. As she did, the memory of her dream came back to her. 

“Oh no…” She whispered in horror. As she shifted under the blanket, she suddenly became aware of a distinct slickness between her legs. She lifted the covers to look down at her naked body. 

“Oh Maizus…” She muttered. She dropped the blanket and stared blankly up at the ceiling. 

_ “Okay…. So that was the hottest dream I’ve ever had…. And it was about Rad.”  _ She looked over at her alarm clock. The two little ninja swords indicated the time; 9:30. 

“Shit.” She hissed. She threw the blanket off of her and leapt out of bed. As soon as the protective heat of the quilt left her, she flinched sharply. It felt like she was in a meat locker. She wrapped her bare arms around herself and shivered as she sprinted to her dresser. 

“So cold, so cold, so cold!” She chanted under her breath. 

“Honey? Are you up?” She heard the voice of her mother call from outside her door. Enid hopped on one leg as she squirmed into a pair of black underpants. 

“Yeah mom!” She replied, hurriedly pawing through her drawer for her warmest clothes. 

“You’re gonna be late for work sweetie!” Her mom called once more. Enid groaned in frustration as she pulled a purple hoodie over her head. 

“I’m working on it!” She snapped back. She pulled on a pair of thick socks over her ice-like feet, as well as a heavy pair of sweatpants, and finally her winter boots with the fuzzy interior. She quickly shoved her phone in her pocket and burst through the door with ninja-like speed. 

“Sweetie, wait!” Enid came to a screeching halt as her mother appeared before her just feet from the front door. 

“Agh, mom! I’m gonna be late!” Enid said in frustration. Though she was covered from head to toe, the inside of the dim haunted house still felt cold as a freezer. Her mother smiled sweetly as she held out a tin foil bundle. 

“Here. You never came to dinner last night, so your father made you a leftover sandwich! You know I came to check on you, but you were already-” Her mother stopped to look the teen up and down. 

“Why Enid, what on Earth are you wearing?? It’s supposed to get up to 90 degrees today, you can’t go to work dressed like that!” Enid looked over herself with slight embarrassment. 

“Oh! It’s okay, I’m just.… feeling a little cold I guess.” Her mother looked concerned.

“Do you have a fever baby?” She reached out to feel her daughter’s forehead. Enid dogged her hand and slinked past her. 

“No no, it’s nothing like that, I’m fine! But I am gonna be uh… helping Rad in the freezer today! You know how it is in the summer, everyone coming in, raiding our freezers of all the ice cream in Lakewood!” She laughed nervously. She snatched the sandwich out of her mother’s hand before gripping the door handle. 

“Whelp, gotta go, gonna be late, tell dad I said thanks for the sandwich, bye mom!” She said in one breath before slamming the door behind her as she sprinted away. 

 


	6. The Mission

Rad awoke with a euphoric sigh. Eyes still closed from sleep, he rolled over, spooning a large pillow in his strong arms. He opened his eyes slightly to face his bedside table. Upon it rested a full glass of water. With a powerful sense of relief, he reached up to grab the glass. But as he did, he froze just inches from the cup, halted by the sudden awareness of a distinctive, mushy wetness around his groin area. Memories of puberty past flooded back to haunt him, as well as the rather steamy escapade of his unconcious. 

“Crap…” He breathed. He carefully threw his bed sheet off of him to witness his sweaty body. Sure enough, the crotch of his shorts were as soaked as soaked can be, and definitely not with urine. He covered his face and groaned into his hands. 

_ “C’mon Rad, you’re too old for this shit.”  _ Rad internally scolded himself as he slowly arose from his damp bed. He began removing his clothes from the day before, and tossed them into his hamper. He sighed and stretched, amazed at how much better it felt to have this hot, damp clothes off. Finally he took the glass of water and gulped it down. The cool liquid was soothing, but as he woke up more, his body returned to its state of discomfort. With that, he remembered all that he had learned last night. 

_ “So this is it…. Day one of my last four days of life.”  _ He thought miserably as he trudged off to his bathroom. His emotions were incalculable to him. He was afraid, certainly, but more than that, indescribably depressed. He stopped to look at himself in the mirror. The man that stared back at him was the same one he’d always seen in that mirror. The man who grinned back at him with bright, cyan eyes and proudly flexed, pumping himself up for another new day, but today it seemed that man was gone. Today, he looked different, his eyes lacking that lustre, his soul which once burned with a hot passion now seemed reduced to an ember. Though he had slept more than his usual amount, he had dark circles under his eyes, perfectly matching the exhaustion he felt, on top of the usual tumultuous urges that went along with his mating cycle. He paid them little mind however, with no energy or interest in such thoughts at the moment.

Rad turned away from the unfamiliar Externillain in the mirror and stepped into his shower, twisting the cold knob as far as it would go. As soon as he pulled the faucet valve, diverting the water from the tap to the showerhead, he gasped at the sudden rush of cold that came pounding down on him. He quickly adjusted however, as he savored the sweet, refreshing feeling of the cold on his blue skin. It was almost revitalizing, washing away the sweat, as well as his stress. He would have been happy to stay there all day. After a moment more however, he heard his alarm clock buzz, alerting him it was time to go to work. He groaned anxiously.  

_ “I might as well just stay here till I die.”  _ He thought in despair. He took a deep, shaky breath as he switched off the tap and stepped out of the shower. He turned to look out the window for a moment. It was a sunny day, with only a few white, puffy clouds in the sky. Three pink pterodactyls flew by in the distance. He sighed once more. 

_ “But I have to go…. I have to at least say goodbye to K.O and Enid…. But how?”  _ He grabbed his small towel and began wiping himself down.

_ “How do you even explain something like this?”   _ He glanced over at his bed and realized the book was still under his thick pillow. 

_ “Maybe if I show her the book…. It might help explain everything?”  _ He scooped up a handful of his clothes from a pile on his chair and grabbed his phone. Floating above an image of a fluffy calico kitten the clock read; 9:35. 

“Dammit…” He hissed. He hurriedly pulled on the clothes, struggling against his slightly damn skin. Finally he grabbed his keys, and the book from his bed, he headed down the turbolift and out the front door towards his van.

* * *

 

Enid keeled halfway over, bracing her weight on her knees as she gasped for air. She normally walked to work, but since she was late, she had pushed herself to jog the entire way. The heat she had generated during her run in the summer morning had been soothing, but the slight breeze was cool enough to burn her tanned skin. Despite her shivers, she felt her body already soaking with sweat under her clothes. It seemed her rinse-off yesterday had been pointless. She hadn’t felt so tense and uncomfortable in a long time, and work hadn't even begun for the day. She looked up at the Bodega with dread, realizing she hadn’t had time to come up with a gameplan for how she was going to face Rad. 

_ “Okay…. Just be cool. It’s just a normal day at work. A normal day where I hopefully don’t have to talk to Rad… Heck, Rad might not even show up! He was kinda sick yesterday, maybe-” _

“Uh, hey… Enid…” She heard a rough yet weak voice behind her. She jumped and spun around to face Rad, who came walking towards her from the parking lot. Enid frowned uncomfortably. 

“Oh! Hey Rad…” She replied. Rad stood before her nervously fiddling with his keys and holding a large book at his side. 

“You look… warm.” He said awkwardly as he looked her up and down. Enid’s nervousness and discomfort quickly shifted to irritation and anger. She crossed her arms. 

“So do you.” She said as her eyes swept over his sweaty figure. Rad flinched slightly. 

_ “Oh Cob, she is mad at me….”  _ He shoved his keys into his pocket. 

“Look, there’s something I gotta-” 

“Rad! Enid! Come quick!” K.O came running out of the automatic Bodega doors. He jogged in place on the sidewalk looking excited as ever. 

“Mr. Gar’s got something to tell us! C’mon, you guys are late!” At that he re-entered the store in a cloud of dust. Enid cocked an eyebrow. 

“Huh, that’s weird.” She said boredly. Rad nodded in agreement. 

“No kidding. Uh, so I guess I’ll tell you-” He stopped as Enid turned away, entering the store as she ignored him. His antenne drooped. 

“Later.” He grunted. He wiped a drop of sweat from his forehead. He already felt like he was being cooked from the inside, and seeing Enid had made it even worse, despite her uncharacteristically modest attire. He followed her example and entered behind her. 

“Enid, Radicles, you two are late!” Mr. Gar bellowed in his usual gruff manner. K.O sat on a folding chair next to two identical chairs. He swung his feet happily, eagerly awaiting the his friends. As Enid approached she wordlessly picked up the small boy and plopped him down in the middle seat before taking the rightmost chair. K.O laughed innocently.

“Enid! I could’ve moved! You know I like sitting next to both of my best friends!” He swung from side to side, grinning at the two teens as Rad took his seat. 

“Mmh.” Enid grunted. She crossed her legs, keeping her half-lidded eyes on Gar’s blank whiteboard. Rad drummed his fingers upon the cover of his book resting on his lap, trying his best to look casual. K.O gave him a questioning look before Gar began. 

“Alright. Now that we’re all finally  _ here…. _ ” He shot a look of annoyance at Rad and Enid before flipping the whiteboard to it’s other side and extending a pointer stick at a marker drawing of the Bodega. 

“I have reason to believe the Bodega is under attack, and not from any Boxmore goon either.” Enid cocked an eyebrow and glanced around the store. 

“Uhh, it looks okay to me.” She leaned her head back against her arms. Gar looked down at his wristwatch and held up a single finger. 

“Wait for it….” Three seconds of silence followed before a distant rumbling emitted from beneath the floor and the Bodega began to shake. Rad gripped his chair. 

“Whoa! Are we having an earthquake??” He asked. As he did, the shaking ceased. The bodegamen exchanged glances. 

“No Radicles, that was no earthquake. At least, not a natural one. They’ve been happening twice every hour since 4 in the morning. Also...” He stepped aside from the whiteboard and knelt upon the tile floor. 

“HIYAH!” He cried, pounding his elbow into the floor. The three employees gasped as the tile floor cracked, opening up into a huge, perfectly circular chasm in the floor. Rad shook his head in disbelief. 

“Whoa! Mr. Gar, did you do that!?” He asked. Mr. Gar stood. 

“Of course not! Something’s been digging tunnels under the plaza.  _ This  _ one heads straight down from the center of the Bodega, but never broke the surface. Which means whatever caused it is still down there.” He pointed his stick below the drawing of the bodega. 

“I don’t know exactly where or what the tremors are coming from, but I do know the epicenter is somewhere directly beneath the bodega.” He pointed at his three employees. 

“I’m sending you three on an underground mission. You’ll follow the tunnel down to the epicenter, find out what is causing the earthquakes, and shut it down.” He collapsed his poiter and placed his fists on his hips. 

“Any questions?” He asked. K.O slowly raised his hand. Gar nodded once at the boy.

“What about the Bodega? Who’s gonna sell stuff and help customers while we’re underground?” He asked. Gar sighed.

“The store will be…. closed for today. Or at least until this issue is resolved. Nobody wants to shop in a store that shakes them like a maraca twice every hour.” K.O gasped. 

“But it’s summer! What about all the people who wanna buy ice cream!?” Gar grimaged. 

“Guess I have no choice but to give up a day of sales to the….  _ Competition _ .” He lowered his glasses and glared out the window. A creepy, smug-looking clown in an ice cream truck sneered at Mr. Gar as he accepted a bill from a child, who eagerly received a lemon popsicle in return from the red-nosed driver. Gar growled darkly before returning his sunglasses to their rightful place. 

“Alright men, suit up!” He said as tossed each of them a black duffel bag. They unzipped the bags to find climbing gear, helmets, gloves, flashlights, walkie-talkies, water bottles, and energy bars inside. K.O grinned as he pulled out a bar. 

“Cool, snacks!” He motioned to open the wrapper, but was stopped by Gar, who quickly snatched the treat away. 

“That’s for emergencies. In case you get stuck down there for a while.” He dropped the bar back into K.O’s bag and held up his own walkie-talkie. 

“All of our walkie-talkies are linked. That way you can keep me updated on your progress. Keep them on hand at all times.” Rad pulled a large ray gun out from under the climbing gear. 

“Uhh, what’s  _ this  _ for?” He asked hesitantly. 

“That’s  _ also  _ for emergencies.” Gar rifled through his pockets, and looked around the whiteboard. 

“Huh, that’s weird, where’s my marker?” He muttered. He turned back to the three bodegamen. 

“You three gear up, I’ll just be a moment.” At that he turned and made his way to his office. Enid groaned, standing up as she yanked her climbing rig from her duffel bag. 

“This is even worse than sitting at the counter all day….” She said through her teeth as she began pulling on the harness. Rad gulped nervously as he stood and stepped closer, holding his book up, inches from his chest. 

“Uh, Enid? Can I maybe talk to-” 

“Look, Rad.” Enid interrupted firmly, dropping her harness and turning to point at him. 

“I don’t know what’s been going on with you, but I am  _ really  _ not in the mood to deal with it right now. We’re gonna do this mission, and we’re gonna do it quickly, and  _ you _ are gonna stay out of my way. Then  _ maybe _ afterwards we can talk about all this, if I  _ feel like it _ , got that?” She glared deeply at the frozen externillian. Rad nodded silently and turned away from her, grabbing his own bag. As he walked away, shoving his weird book into his bag, Enid’s harsh expression turned sad. 

“Enid? What was that all about?” K.O asked carefully. She looked down at the wide-eyed boy with a cramp of guilt in her gut. 

“Oh! Uhh…” She rifled her mind for some kind of explanation. 

“Are you and Rad fighting?” He asked sadly. 

_ “Oh cob, he sounds so sad. _ ” Enid thought with a wince. She had been feeling the discomfort of her body increasing with every second, totally clouding all judgement, but seeing K.O sad could melt even the coldest of hearts. She tousled his soft hair. 

“Oh, don’t worry about it brush-head. It’s just a little thing between Rad and I, it’ll blow over.” She glanced back at Rad, who was hopping on one foot as he tried to get his leg through his harness. 

_ “I hope….”  _


	7. Descending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry my posting hasn't been as frequent as usual! I've been busy graduating, and finals week has really taken it out of me XD  
> But summer is coming up! So this'll be on my top 5 to-do list during the heated months! ;P   
> Thanks to everybody that's been reading, I appreciate it so much! <3

“Alright, are your harnesses secure?” Mr. Gar asked the three employees. 

“Yup.” Enid replied apathetically. She tried to ignore the feeling of the straps clasped so close to her most sensitive area. 

“All good here!” Rad said with a thumbs up. His voice wavered slightly, causing Enid to glance at him from the corner of her eye. He was already dripping with sweat. K.O bounced excitedly, dislodging his helmet to one side. 

“We’re all ready to go! I even secured the anchors myself!” He said with pride as he pointed to the thick metal spokes sticking into the stone along the edge of the hole. Mr. Gar nodded with approval as he examined the anchors. 

“Good job K.O, looks up to code to me! Except for  _ this _ .” He reached down to adjust K.O’s helmet till it was secure. K.O giggled happily

“Okay, everyone got their walkie-talkies?” Mr. Gar asked.

“Sure do!” K.O replied as he patted his walkie-talkie hooked onto his belt. 

“Excellent, you’re all ready to go then! Good luck down there bodegamen!” Mr. Gar said with a salute. Enid adjusted her duffel bag and pushed past Rad before descending first. Rad slowly went second, with K.O following.

“See you laaaaaateeeerrr!” K.O called to Mr. Gar as he descended into the darkness. 

The three bodega employees switched on their helmet lights, but it did little to illuminate the massive tunnel heading straight down. Their footsteps on the stone wall of the tunnel echoed in an almost melodic way. The further down they went, the cooler the air around them got. Enid clenched her teeth, her body shaking against the chill as it burned her face and fingertips. Her head pounded, either from the cold, or the pressure. Meanwhile Rad’s tension grew less and less with every meter they scaled, the cool air and stone absolutely irresistible to his blue skin, the sweating finally letting up.  

“G-gee wiz, I-it sure is cold!” K.O remarked, cutting into the quiet darkness. 

“No kidding.” Enid grunted in reply.

“Enid, Radicles, K.O? Do you read me?” The walkie-talkies crackled out. Rad grabbed his walkie-talkie from his belt. 

“We read you loud and clear cap’in!” He replied. Enid scoffed below him. 

“Good. Have you reached the bottom yet?” Gar’s voice asked. Rad looked down, the beam of light from his helmet finding no surface in the void. 

“Nope, not yet. I don’t even think we’re close actually.” 

“Interesting…. Enid, how far down have you three gone?” Enid gripped her walkie-talkie. 

“How should I know!? It’s not like you gave me a huge measuring tape!” She barked into the speaker. K.O and Rad’s eyes widened. Enid had always been the abrasive type, but  _ never  _ had she spoken to Mr.Gar in such a manner. 

“Oh! Uh, of course, I, I guess I didn’t…” Enid rolled her eyes at the weak response. Mr.Gar’s embarrassed cough could be heard through the walkie-talkies. 

“Well uh, keep up the good work and uh,, keep me posted!” He said. Enid shoved her walkie-talkie back into her belt and continued down faster than before. 

“Enid, wait up!” Rad called. Enid ignored him as she scaled down into the dark. 

“Uhh, guys?” K.O’s worried voice asked. 

“Enid we have to stay together!” Rad called, increasing his speed to catch up with her. 

“Guys I think something’s wrong with my-” He suddenly yelped and plummeted downwards into the tunnel, his rope falling along with him. 

“K.O!!” Rad gasped. He reached his lazer beam to grab the boy, but it was too late. K.O came barreling straight into Rad, who was promptly thrown off his balance and lost his grip on his own rope. The two boys fell screaming into the darkness till they crashed into Enid. 

“AAAGH!!” She screamed as the three of them fell. She scrambled to hold her grip but was caught helpless against the downward weight. She closed her eyes tight, preparing for the fall, when she suddenly felt it. A clenching pain in her back caused her to cry out as her body slammed against the stone ground. Realizing she wasn’t seriously injured and feeling the pain subsiding, she opened her eyes slightly. A large pair of blue eyes were locked on hers, with Rad’s weight on top of her. She caterwauled, slamming her fists against his chest to force him off of her. She grabbed the back of her head beneath her helmet, groaning and coughing from the impact. 

“Enid! Are you okay!?” Rad asked, reaching forward to check her head. She swatted his hands away and stood up, her eyes burning at K.O who lay on his side, cradling an arm. 

“YOU!!” She bellowed, pointing at the boy. K.O looked up, his eyes glassy and pained. 

“YOU ALMOST GOT US ALL KILLED!!” Enid growled. 

“I-it was an accident! My rope wasn’t secure, I didn’t mean to!” Enid marched towards him, grabbing him by his vest as she picked him up with one arm. 

“YOU HAD NO BUSINESS RIGGING SAFETY EQUIPMENT WHEN YOU HAD NO IDEA WHAT YOU WERE DOING!” She screamed right into his face. K.O’s bottom lip trembled. 

“Enid!” Rad snatched K.O away from her and put him down, standing in front of the small boy protectively. 

“It wasn’t K.O’s fault! Mr. Gar checked the rigs himself, they were all secure! It must’ve malfunctioned or something.” He turned and took a knee to K.O to examine the boy’s arm. He looked back up to Enid. 

“I think his arm is broken.” He said. Enid groaned through her teeth. 

“Great, that’s just great! I would’ve been better coming down here alone!” K.O gaped in miserable disbelief. Rad glared. 

“Seriously Enid!?” Enid ignored him, ripping her harness off.

“Just drag him back up to the Bodega, I’ll find this thing myself!” She said as she retrieved her duffel bag. 

“But Enid! We can’t leave you down here alone!” K.O whined in protest. Rad stood. 

“K.O’s right.” He stepped forward, placing his hands on Enid’s shoulders. 

“We’ll contact Mr. Gar, he’ll know what to do.” Enid gritted her teeth. 

“You get your hands off of me!” She demanded. Suddenly she reached up to Rad’s chin, forcing his face to the side. She stood on her toes and growled like an animal as she sunk her teeth into his neck. 

“AGH! Enid!!” Rad yelped with shock and pain, forcing the girl away before stepping back. He grabbed the bite, watching Enid wipe a single drop of blood from her lips. 

“What is wrong with you!?” He asked in anger and bewilderment. Enid panted loudly as she stepped back. 

“Nothing!” She replied, though she looked somewhat unsure. She looked from Rad to K.O before glareing once more and adjusting her duffel bag. 

“I’m in charge of this mission, I’ll finish it!” She said firmly. At that she turned around and dashed off into the darkness with ninja-like speed. 

“Wait!” Rad called helplessly. He turned back to K.O. 

“You go ahead.” He said, his body shaking. “I’ll be fine right here.” Rad sighed as he approached K.O

“No way little guy, I’m not gonna leave you like this. Besides, the last thing we need is all three of us splitting up.” He looked down at his walkie-talkie, which he’d been too distracted to notice Gar’s voice calling out of. He lifted it to his face and pressed the button. 

“Rad to Mr. Gar, do you read me?” He asked. 

“I read you Radicles, what’s going on?? I saw K.O’s rope tear, but I wasn’t quick enough to grab it, is he okay!?” His voice shook with worry. K.O took his walkie-talkie with his good arm. 

“I’m okay Mr. Gar! Well, except for my arm…” He replied into the speaker. 

“Oh thank Cob….” Gar’s voice sighed. 

“Radicles? Are you there?” A familiar robotic voice asked from the walkie-talkie. Rad blinked in surprise and lifted his walkie-talkie once more. 

“Mr. Logic??” He asked. 

“Yes Rad, I came to see how you are doing.” Rad blushed, knowing what the robot man meant. 

“I’m fine!” He said quickly, though he made a mental note to tell the bot the true details later.

“Actually Mr. Gar, we’ve got bigger problems down here….” 

 


	8. Into The Darkness

Mr. Logic stepped through the doors of the Lakewood Plaza Turbo Bodega. His robotic lense-eyes scanned the interior, finding no sign of the Externillian he was searching for. When he detected Mr. Gar standing at the edge of a large hole in the floor, he approached. 

“Hello Mr. Gar.” The robot greeted. Mr. Gar jumped slightly, holding a walkie-talkie in his hand. 

“Oh! Hey there Logic! Sorry, but the Bodega is closed today, didn’t you see the sign?” He asked. Mr. Logic nodded expressionlessly. 

“I did. However, I was searching for Radicles. Do you know where he may be?” Mr. Gar pointed down the hole. 

“Down there. He and the others are on a little mission.” Mr. Logic’s eyes zoomed in on the chasm. 

“Is this relating to the periodic series of earthquakes that have been occurring for the past 7 hours?” He asked. Gar slipped his walkie-talkie into his belt holster. 

“Right on the money, as usual Mr. Logic. Something down there is causing them, probably by digging these holes under the plaza.” Mr. Logic looked back to Mr. Gar. 

“And you have sent your employees down to investigate the cause?” He asked. 

“Yup.” Gar replied. Mr. Logic’s robotic eyes sensed movement at the edge of the hole, and darted towards the disturbance. The rope connected to the rightmost anchor had a tiny tear in it that was growing bigger by the second. 

“Mr. Gar, that rope is tearing!” Mr. Logic said as he pointed towards the anchor. 

“Huh?” Gar asked. At that moment, the rope suddenly snapped and shot down into the darkness. 

“NO!” Gar bellowed, diving after it. 

“Mr. Gar!” Mr. Logic cried. In a flash of quick thinking, he extended his robotic arms, catching Mr. Gar by the ankles before he vanished completely. 

“No no, that was K.O’s rope!!” Mr. Gar cried in a panic as Mr. Logic pulled the human man out of the hole. The robot carefully set him down in his original place, watching as he grabbed his walkie-talkie. 

“K.O!? Do you read me!? Enid, Radicles, come in!” He yelled into the speaker. His breathing increased with his panic, a few droplets of sweat forming upon his brow. 

“Bodegamen, are you there!? Any of you, please!” His voice cracked slightly as he spoke. 

“No no no no NO!” He muttered as he slammed a hand against his forehead and ran his fingers along his scalp, his large hand shaking as he gripped the walkie talkie. Mr. Logic knelt next to him, looking down into the hole. Finally the walkie-talkie crackled to life. 

“Rad to Mr. Gar, do you read me?” Rad’s voice came through the device. Mr. Gar gasped, immediately hitting the talk button.  

“I read you Radicles, what’s going on?? I saw K.O’s rope break, but I wasn’t quick enough to grab it, is he okay!?” He asked desperately. The walkie-talkie crackled once again. 

“I’m okay Mr. Gar! Well, except for my arm…” K.O’s young, boyish voice replied. 

“Oh thank Cob….” Gar’s sighed. His fear melted away into relief at the sound of K.O’s voice. Mr. Logic leaned forward. 

“Radicles? This is Mr. Logic speaking” He said. 

“Mr. Logic?” Rad’s voice replied. 

“Yes Rad, I came to see how you are doing.” Mr. Logic said into the device. 

“I’m fine!” Rad’s voice quickly replied. Mr. Logic cocked his head slightly. 

_ “Perhaps Radicles found a solution after all.”  _ He thought, though he held a strong sense of doubt.  

“Actually Mr. Gar, we’ve got bigger problems down here….” Rad’s voice said. Gar looked concerned as he pulled the walkie-talkie closer to himself. 

“What’s going on? Have you identified the source?” He asked. 

“No, not yet. Enid kind of... freaked out. She ran off like, really fast, I couldn’t stop her.” Rad replied. Gar pressed the button again. 

“Enid? Enid, do you read me?” He asked. Only silence replied. 

“She must be out of range.” He sighed. 

“Or she’s just not answering….” Rad’s voice said grimly. Mr. Gar gave the walkie-talkie a confused look. 

“Why wouldn’t she answer?” He asked. 

“Well, it’s kinda complicated…. She really flipped out after we fell, she actually  _ yelled _ at K.O.” Gar cocked an eyebrow. 

“Enid yells at everybody, what’s your point?” Gar questioned. 

“Yeah, but this was different. Like, the freak-out kind of yelling, I’ve never seen her so angry, especially at K.O. And when I tried to stop her from leaving, but she got all hostile and…. Bit me.” Rad replied. Gar and Logic looked taken aback. 

“She….  _ bit _ you?” Gar asked. 

“Yep. And she seemed to be  _ enjoying _ it or something. She’s really not herself.” Gar and Logic exchanged glances. 

“But I’ll deal with Enid later, right now we need to get K.O out of here.” Rad said. 

“No way! I’m fine, I can still- OW!!” K.O gasped in pain. 

“K.O, your arm is broken, you have to go back. Mr. Gar, I’m gonna hook K.O up to my rope, then you can pull him up and then toss the rope back down for me.” Rad said assertively. 

“Understood, proceed.” Mr. Gar replied. 

* * *

Rad knelt upon the dusty bedrock as he fastened K.O’s harness onto his rope, checking to make sure it was secure.

“Rad? Is something wrong with Enid?” K.O asked with worry. Rad forced a smile. 

“I dunno squirt, but don’t worry about it. I’ll find her, and talk to her, and then we’ll take care of these earthquakes.” He patted the top of K.O’s helmet affectionately. K.O looked less than convinced. 

“But she’s been acting weird all day, I think something's going on.” He said. Rad thought for a moment as he looked into K.O’s worried and wondering eyes. He looked away in shame

“Well… yeah…. It’s kinda my fault…” He muttered. K.O tilted to face Rad once more. 

“What happened?” He asked. Rad shifted anxiously. He’d been dealing with the shame of his actions all day, as well as his own physical issues which had been killing him, and the daunting knowledge that his time was running out. Rad let out a shaky breath. 

“Oh K.O…. I, I messed up. I messed up real bad, and now Enid’s mad at me, and I don’t know if I can fix it in time!” His voice cracked as he spoke, the overwhelming situation weighing down on him. K.O scooted forward and set his good hand on Rad’s shoulder. 

“In time…. For the mission?” He asked with some confusion. Rad wiped his nose with a sniff. 

“No K.O… I’m…. I’m dying.” He said, his voice rough and low. 

“Dying!?” K.O asked. He dropped to his knees to look up at Rad, his eyes glassy. 

“What do you mean!?” Rad breathed hard, trying to figure out where to start. 

“Well…. It was something I did… the same thing that’s made Enid so mad at me.” He groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. 

“I didn’t even know what I was doing, and now Enid is never gonna forgive me, and I’m gonna die without her even knowing how I really feel about her!” K.O blinked several times. 

“Wait…. Do you  _ love _ her?” He asked. Rad sat up with a look of indignation. 

“Wha- no!!” His expression shifted to one of hesitant confusion. 

“Well…. I… I don’t know, I….” For the first time, he thought hard about it. It was true, he was attracted to her,  _ big time _ , pretty much everyone was. But maybe there  _ was  _ more to it than that. He had wanted to bond with her,  _ needed _ to bond with her so badly last night, and he had no idea why. Maybe it was just the attraction, or all the hormones making him go crazy, possibly even the “imprinting” thing he’d read about, or maybe it really was….

“Rad.” K.O said, interrupting his thoughts. He grabbed the externillian’s blue face and looked into his eyes with utmost seriousness. 

“Go to her.” He said in all seriousness. Rad blinked away the tears before wiping his nose once more. Somehow he felt revitalized by K.O’s support.

“Okay….” He jumped to a standing position. “Okay!” He said with pride. 

“Radicles, what’s taking so long??” Mr. Gar’s voice asked from the walkie-talkie. Rad grabbed the device. 

“Nothing sir, we’re ready to go!” K.O grinned at Rad as he began to ascend. 

“Go get her Rad! And remember not to be ashamed of your feeeeeliiiiiings!” He called from above. 

“Thanks K.O!” He called after the boy. With that he switched on his helmet light and plunged himself into the darkness, running fast in the same direction as Enid had gone. 

  
  



	9. Author's Note

Heyo everybody! 

First of all, I just wanna give a thank you to everybody who's been reading this fic! Thanks for all the hits, kudos, bookmarks, and comments, it means more than you know!

Secondly, I would like to apologize, both for not posting more frequently, and for this not being a real chapter.

Before you start to worry, I will now reassure you, I am not ending this fic on a cliffhanger, there are many more chapters to come! I've written much behind the scenes, a lot of it was actually written several months ago. However, there have been some setbacks and difficulties on my end including school, a recently stressful and hectic personal life, and of course writers' block. That is one of the worst factors here, since I not only have writer's block, but the recent new episode _(Which was AMAZING)_  sorta surprised me, after one of the main ideas I had planned for the climax of this fic was _kinda_ used in cannon. I honestly don't expect most people to believe me, but that doesn't really matter much, since this is just a fanfic, and the scenario is actually gonna be VERY different from the show, just with one particular similarity. I realize none, or at least very little of this makes sense right now, but to my diligent readers, I hope you shall soon understand. 

The last bit I'd like to touch on is _the smut_. I'm very sorry to all of you who came just to read some steaming-hot Radnid action, if you've even stuck around to read this at all. After all we're 8 chapters in and the most I've given you was Enid's dream, and some suggestiveness. I admit, this is much more plot/drama than porn, and there's gonna be some romance towards the end, but I SWEAR, I know how to write the hot stuff, so don't give up hope, it's coming (lol, pun INTENDED). I'll even put a little emoji or note in the chapter name on the hot chapter(s) for those of you who'd prefer to skip right to it, or even those who like the drama and fluff better & just wanna skip the dirty stuff. If that's your plan however, I think it's worth mentioning that my smut usually sticks to the romantic side, no matter how rough it may get, so if you're lookin' to bury yourself in fluff, that'd be the place to dive in! 

On that note, I hope you're all having a punch-tastic day! Keep this in your bookmarks, cuz I may post sooner than both of us think! 


	10. Tunnel Vision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YO! I'm back, baby!  
> Sorry for the lil hiatus, but I'm making an effort to complete this story, cuz I really love it, and moreover, I REALLY appreciate all the support it's gotten, you guys are the best! <3  
> I might delete the "authors note", just to keep the chapter numbers consistent, but that is to be decided   
> There's still quite a bit more to go, and I'm a little fuzzy about the ending, but all in good time!   
> For now, enjoy!

K.O’s eyes squinted in the light of the Bodega as he emerged from the chasm, his rope pulled by Mr. Gar. The large man smiled wide in relief as the boy pulled himself up to the shiny floor of the shop. 

“K.O!” He sighed heavily. He dropped to his knees and scooped up the boy in his large arms. 

“Hey Mr.- OW!!” K.O cringed in pain from his arm. Mr. Gar gasped. 

“Oh, sorry!” He delicately shifted K.O so that he was no longer touching the broken arm before standing. He turned to Mr. Logic and held up his walkie-talkie. 

“I have to take him to the hospital. Can you stay here and make sure Rad and Enid are okay?” Mr. Logic’s head whizzed as he calculated the request. 

“That does appear to be the most logical solution. I only have three appointments today, but they should be easy to reschedule. I would be happy to monitor Enid and Radicles’ progress.” He held out his hand to accept the walkie-talkie. Gar handed the robot the device with a nod. K.O looked at the robot with concern.

“Try to get ahold of Enid. I’m really worried about her.” Mr. Logic nodded silently in reply, and Gar quickly left with K.O in his arms. Mr. Logic sat at the edge of the chasm and clicked on the walkie-talkie. 

* * *

Enid ran aimlessly into the darkness of the tunnel, the rubber soles of her boots sending dull echoes along the stone tube. Her heart was pounding painfully through her body, the torturous itching she’d been feeling now felt like lightning stinging up her legs with every pounding stride. 

“Gotta find this thing, gotta stop it. K.O and Rad just slowed me down from the start, I don’t need them.” Enid spoke to herself in a series of heavy pants. She tried to ignore the lasting image of K.O’s distraught face, pulled steadily along by her goal. Suddenly a powerful rumble emitted from the ground below, causing her to lose her balance and stumble to the ground. 

“Agh!” Enid gasped, just managing to catch herself by her knees and forearms before falling on her face. The urge to stand was quelled only by the relentless roaring and rattling of the hard earth around her. A powerful, rumbling vibration seemed to grip the air around her, churning her body from the outside in. Enid gasped, feeling the itch flow across her body, quickly changing into a powerful tingle. Her body involuntarily flinched as she felt all her scenes simultaneously increase in sharpness and intensity. The cold air around her got colder, the texture of the rock and dust below her fingers was as though she could feel every scratch and speck of dirt, the dim light from her helmet seemed to grow brighter upon the stone in front of her. She gripped the bedrock below her till the rumbling and shaking stopped, along with the burst of stimulation. In the sudden stillness, Enid lifted herself to her knees, breathing hard. 

“What the hell…?” She whispered, looking down at her body. She clenched and unclenched her dirty hands before her eyes, feeling the memory of the powerful sensation still fresh under her skin. It had been so sudden, so quick, and yet so… intense. Though the potency of it had worn off rapidly, she felt as though there was still something buried within the layers of her flesh, just waiting to feel that again. Enid gulped and blushed as she became uncomfortably aware of the….  _ Particular  _ areas, which the sudden burst of senses had especially enhanced. 

An ominous, groaning breeze from deep within the tunnel shook Enid out of her thoughts, reminding her of the task at hand. She looked around, realizing she had no idea where she was going. The tremors were supposed to be coming from underneath the Bodega, but she had been running away from the Bodega within the tunnel. 

“Dammit….” Enid muttered as she stood. She slowly approached the wall of the tunnel and placed her hand upon it’s rough surface. She flinched slightly at it’s freezing cold temperature. It felt as though she were in a tunnel of ice. 

“There must be another passage somewhere….” Enid walked along at an easy pace, keeping her hand on the stone. After a moment she stepped forward, only to find the ground sloping at a dramatic steepness beneath her foot. She gasped, veering back just in time before taking a tumble. She pointed her helmet light into the depth and squinted. The tunnel appeared to hook down, creating a sloping wall on the other side. She leaned over the opening and spat, listening for the drip. After just three seconds she heard it close below her. 

“Bingo.” Enid whispered. She leapt at the adjacent wall, leaning at just the right angle, skillfully sliding down the steep slope. She jumped as she reached the base, steadily keeping her balance as she looked around. This opposite-going tunnel appeared to be exactly the same as the last, apart from a tiny, fluctuating light at the far end. 

“Ha!” Enid said proudly. She bolted for the light at breakneck speed. As she ran, she felt what appeared to be tiny raindrops stinging her face. 

_ “Rain? Underground?”  _ She wondered. Enid slowed to look around herself, and noticed the walls and floor were wet from a mist in the air. An unexpected breeze blew in her face, causing her to flinch and shiver. She hissed through her teeth, covering her face with her arms. The painfully sharp tingle rushing through her was growing worse by the minute. Her desire to fulfil her mission was the only thing keeping her from curling up in a ball and going to sleep. As soon as the breeze lessened, she pushed on, the light growing ever brighter. As she drew nearer, an odd shape came into focus. The tunnel opened up into a spherical room with four metal bridges reaching from four tunnels to the center. In the center of the room there stood a pillar filled with a bright blue light. The pillar reached from out of the ground straight up to the ceiling, emitting a low-pitched hum. Enid approached with wide eyes. 

“Whoa….” Enid breathed. She stepped closer till she stood directly in front of the glowing pillar. With a cautious, shaking hand, Enid reached out and touched the pillar. It’s smooth, shiny surface was warm to the touch. She sighed with relief and dropped her bag to wrap her arms around the pillar as far as she could, gripping it’s smooth girth for warmth. For a moment she stayed there, soothed by the sweet heat of the pillar, till the room suddenly began to rumble.

“Aaah!” She yelped as the violent, untimely shaking threw her to the ground. She laid on her back, propped up on her elbows, gripping the cold metal floor as she looked around wildly. She squinted as the light of the pillar doubled in brightness before all of the nerves within her flared up. 

“Hnn!” Enid tensed, feeling a second wave of sensitivity overtake her. The beating of her heart was like a drumroll in her ears as flashes of electrical impulses shot through her body. For what felt like the first time, Enid became hyper aware of every inch of her body. She could feel every bone, every muscle, every stitch of clothing touching her skin. It was still jarring, but this time she had been expecting it. 

A movement in the pillar caught her eye, pulling a gasp from within her chest. Floating up the tunnel from the ground were dozens and dozens of glorbs, rushing upwards like red blood cells through a vein. The glorbs continued floating up the tunnel till the shaking stopped. Enid laid still for a few moments as she regained a normal heart rate, and tried to piece together what she was witnessing. 

“Someone is…. Mining glorbs?” Enid questioned aloud as she stood. She circled the pillar, running her hand along it’s shiny surface, and peering at her reflection. 

“But…. from where?” As she circled back, a distant sound from the tunnel she had emerged from caught her ear. She squinted in the dark, hearing an odd, echoing groan. Alert spiking her senses, she reached down into her bag and pulled out the laser gun before cautiously re-entering the tunnel. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun DUN!


	11. Deceptive Complexity

Rad ran through the dark cave-like tunnel, his path lit by the bouncing light of his helmet flashlight. In the thin layer of dust along the bedrock ground, he followed Enid’s boot prints like a lifeline. The tunnel was eerily quiet, apart from the echoing slap of his sandals as he ran. 

“Enid? Enid!?” Rad called. Suddenly a voice answered. 

“Radicles? Come in Radicles, do you read me?” The uniform, robotic voice of Mr. Logic crackled through his walkie-talkie. Rad finally came to a stop, panting as he doubled over to catch his breath. There wasn’t much air in the tunnel, and Rad’s body was beginning to fail him. He gripped the walkie-talkie in his sweaty hand and pressed the talk button. 

“Yo.” He managed between gasps. 

“Radicles, are you alright?” Mr. Logic asked. Rad stood up straight, wiping his forehead of sweat. 

“I’m still alive, if that’s what you mean.” He said weakly. 

“That was one of my concerns. I am aware that after today, you will only have three days left to live in your condition.” Rad blinked a few times as he continued following the footprints at a gentle walking pace. 

“H-how did you…?” He breathed. 

“Last night I found a digital copy of “The Complete Externillian Reproduction; Biology and Cycle” for purchase online. It only took me half an hour to learn the Externillian language and to read the book in its entirety.” Rad’s pace slowed. 

“Then you know?.... You know what I did?” He asked somberly. 

“I have an idea of what may have occurred.” Mr. Logic replied. Rad walked silently for a few moments. 

“Radicles, I am afraid I must ask you some questions regarding the event. For me to determine the severity of your condition, it is important that you tell me  _ exactly  _ what happened between you and Enid, as well as her behavior since then.” Mr. Logic’s robotic voice echoed along with Rad’s footsteps through the tunnel. Rad gulped. 

“Well, Enid’s obviously pissed at me, but it’s weird. She’s been all fidgety and irritable, and like, way more aggressive than I’ve seen her before; she’s usually more  _ passive _ -aggressive, and she sticks around so she can keep reminding me how pissed she is. Today it's like she just wants to avoid me, but also like she’s egging me on or something. And then she  _ bit _ me, right on my  _ neck _ .” He swept his fingers across the bite. She’d only drawn a tiny bit of blood, which she swept away, but the painful, swollen mark of her teeth remained. He felt an odd flutter in his stomach as he recalled the sensation of her hot mouth on his neck. With his aversion to the heat, and the insatiable itching tingle he’d been feeling, the bite had felt like icy fire. Scorching hot, painfully cold, cracking, sizzling, freezing, burning  _ fire _ , right into his veins. It had caught him totally off guard, frightened him, and…. Aroused him as well. Shame clenched in his soul as he realized that. The fire hadn’t just been in his veins, it was in her eyes too. When he touched her, when she thrust forward to bite him, and when she pulled back with the taste of his blood in her mouth, that very fire was coming directly from her, and though he was fighting it with every fiber of his being, it was coming from him too. He knew that so much more than the mission was urging him to find her. He  _ needed _ to feel that freezing burn again. 

“Hmm. And last night, what happened?” Mr. Logic asked, immediately snapping Rad out of his thoughts.

“Okay…” He thought back to the previous night. He tried to remember exactly  _ what _ had happened,  _ why  _ he had done it, but it had happened so fast, and he had been in such a mental disarray, it was hard to tell. 

“It’s…. Hard to remember, I really wasn’t right in the head at the time… I remember Enid walking into the Bodega, and then things escalating from there….” His brain ached as he thought harder to remember. 

“Was there any physical contact, besides what caused your jaw to dislocate?” Mr. Logic asked. Rad took a deep breath. 

“Yes. She got close to me, she was yelling. I don’t remember what she said, or even what I said, but at one point she grabbed me and slammed me into the front of the counter. It kinda set me off I guess. After that I…. I grabbed her face.” Rad’s face went red with shame and heat. 

“Can you describe what you felt in that moment?” Mr. Logic asked. Rad sighed. That was the one thing he remembered clear as day. 

“Yes…. Before she sucker-punched me in the jaw, it all felt…. Amazing. Like I was floating, and the whole world was just melting away. I’ve never felt so relaxed, until…. I began to feel scared, and angry. It was weird, I didn’t know where the feelings were coming from, but it felt  _ important _ not to let go anyway.” 

“I see. You attempted to establish a telepathic mating bond with Enid.” Mr. Logic replied. Rad walked silently for a few moments. 

“Yes.” He finally answered. “But I didn’t even know what that was until I read it in the book! You’ve gotta believe me Mr. Logic, if I would’ve known, I would have never….” He felt his sense of panic arise again as the reality of what he had done returned to him. 

“I believe you Radicles. I also believe, based on Enid’s unusual behavior, that you succeeded in forming the bond.” Mr. Logic replied. Rad stopped, dumbfounded. 

“But ... that's impossible! She’s… not Externillian, she doesn’t have antennae, she can’t telepathically bond!” 

“It is true, Enid has a different biology than you, but there have been cases of Externillians mating with members of other species. And it is untrue that humans lack telepathic abilities. They lack the convenience of antenne, like Externillains have, but the human mind is deceptively complex. If provided a proper outlet, humans are perfectly capable of telepathy. I believe your inadvertent attempt at a bond was enough to channel that dormant ability, allowing her to bond with you.” Rad remained still, shook to the core by what he was hearing. He looked down at his hand. 

“But she rejected me….  _ Forcefully. _ ” He slowly clenched his fist, remembering how painful it had been, not even counting the dislocated jaw. 

“Even a brief moment of bonding is enough to establish the neurological link, though evidently, the bond was left incomplete. For this reason, I believe she is in just as much danger as you are.” Rad’s heart pounded in his ears as he walked, his slow steps growing automatic as his eyes fixed blankly into the darkness. 

“You mean…. She’s gonna die too?” 

“Yes. If the two of you do not complete your bond, that will be your fate.” Mr. Logic replied. Rad’s ears buzzed as he listened to the man’s artificial voice. 

“Are you sure?” He asked. 

“Quite. Moreover, I am concerned about the rapid progression of her symptoms. The bite on the neck indicates she has reached the carnal stage, one of the mid stages resulting from an unfinished mating bond.” Mr. Logic replied. Rad’s brow furrowed. 

“But it was just last night! Why is it effecting her so quickly!?” He asked. 

“It most likely has to do with the differences between human mating practices as compared to Externillian’s, and many other creatures for that matter. While it is common for many species to only mate at certain times, humans can mate and breed at any time they wish. Their fertility and libido is, for the most part, constant after puberty and before old age.” 

“Seriously??” Rad asked in slight disbelief. He couldn’t imagine not only  _ not _ having a mating cycle, but having it all the time?? It sounded like torture. 

“Indeed. The intensity of their urges may be less than another creature’s during their mating period, but I believe the bond may have exponentially accelerated the potency of her libido to match yours.” Mr. Logic said. 

“So she’s in the same boat I am?” Rad asked knowingly, recalling that striking fire he’d seen in her eyes, and now understanding it. 

“She is. But considering the advanced state of her symptoms, she may be in more danger than you are at this very moment.” Mr. Logic’s artificial voice buzzed in Rad’s ears as he listened to the man’s words. For the first time in days, he suddenly felt cold. Cold with terror, cold with mortification, leaving him frozen to the core. He had felt hopeless when he found out he was going to die, but knowing that Enid was going to die too, and it was  _ his  _ fault, was far worse than his own death sentence. 

“I…. I have to find her…. I have to….” His head was swarming, spinning with thoughts, all blurred by his own body’s descent into exhaustion. 

“The solution must be that you must become mates. It is only logical.” Mr. Logic emotionlessly finished Rad’s thoughts. Rad’s heat returned to him, with both embarrassment and determination. He continued walking. 

“You’re right. She needs me, and I need her.” He slowed, a terrible thought arising. 

“But…. what if she rejects me again?” He asked miserably. 

“I’d advise, this time, you refrain from forcing the bond. You do not need to mate, all that must be done to save your lives is to complete your telepathic connection. You must also make her aware of the consequence of rejection. If she rejects you, she will die too.” Rad whimpered, wiping sweat from his forehead with a weak, shaky hand. His rising temperature and the stress of the situation were becoming unbearable. Even if he found Enid, how was he going to explain what was going on, what he had done, and the  _ huge _ decision she was about to be forced into making? She didn’t deserve this, she never asked for any of this, but now they were both in this mess, and it was all his fault. He began to hyperventilate as his pace slowed. 

“I… I can’t do this…. I can’t….” He panted. 

“Radicles, you must. If you do not, all is lost, for you  _ and  _ Enid.” Rad’s vision was beginning to blur. He felt as though he was being boiled alive from the inside out. At that moment the earth seemed to vanish below his feet, and he fell into the blackness. 

“Radicles? Radicles, do you read me?” He could barely hear the voice of the robot as his hand released the walkie-talkie, letting it drop to the ground with a dull plastic  _ clack  _ as he himself came plummeting down upon the stone. He felt dizzy, the thick underground air burning in his lungs. He felt the pain against his face and chest before he realized he had collapsed. The last thing he saw was a tiny blue light in the distance before all went dark. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rad Nooooo!  
> Anyway, Now Rad knows what's up with Enid! For the most part...  
> The whole thing about humans having no mating cycle is actually totally legit btw, kinda freaky when you think about it... we're sorta DTF all the time XD  
> Don't ask me about the title of this chapter, I really don't know. I'm running out of inspiration for good chapter names, lol.


	12. Full Disclosure

A soft swaying awoke Radicles from a gentle sleep. His eyes slowly opened to a flurry of magenta hanging above him. A golden-orange light streamed in through the purple leaves of the Xian willow. The young Externillian man slowly shifted and sat up from the soft hammock he was lying on to look around. The sun was setting in the distance, along a purple horizon of tall swaying grass and huge trees amongst rocks jutting out of the ground. An unexpected wave of nostalgia swept over him; Planet X. The late evening sounds of summer soothed him to his core, as well as the sweet-smelling breeze rushing through the strong willow. 

“Raaaadicleeees!” He heard a familiar, distant voice call out to him, the sound tittering musically over the gentle rustle of leaves. He looked around till he found the source of the voice. Enid’s hands parted the swaying willow vines before the woman herself emerged from behind the curtain of leaves. 

“Hey there sleepyhead!” She said in a deep, flirtatious voice as she approached. The setting sun haloed her beautifully, illuminating her loose purple hair, which matched the Externiallian landscape like the whole world was designed just for her. She wore a simple, white, knee-length dress and no shoes, her bare feet stepping through the plum-colored grass with an uncharacteristic grace and elegance. Enid appeared almost to be floating as she sat next to him on the hammock, smiling as she reached up to place her hand on his cheek. 

“You’ve been asleep for so long.... You should really get something to eat.” She said with a sort of maternal affection. Rad gently grasped her hand, turning his head to kiss her wrist. He smirked playfully as he looked up at her, his eyes shining with admiration. 

“I’m not really hungry right now.” He said. He leaned forward, quickly snaking his arm around her waist to lift her up and flip her onto her back in the hammock. She laughed, her breathing heavy as her bosom heaved lustfully. He leaned in close, placing his legs on either side of her and pressing his forehead on hers. 

“But I could eat  _ you _ right up.” He said in a quiet, gravelly voice. Enid arched her back, lifting just enough to rub her cheek upon his. 

“Oh Rad…. there’s something I’ve always wanted to tell you….” She breathed into his ear. Rad lowered further, placing a single kiss on the warm, supple skin of her neck. He then lifted again, locking his eyes on hers with a passionate warmth. 

“Oh yeah?” He lifted her hand, softer than he had ever felt it, and kissed her palm tenderly. 

“What would that be, my love?” He asked in a whisper. Enid’s mouth curled into a sweet, yet devious smile. She placed her hands on his cheeks before sliding them down, tracing lines down his neck till she reached his chest. She then gripped his shirt and gave him a sharp jerk. 

“WAKE UP YOU IDIOT!!” She screamed right in his face. 

  


* * *

  


Rad gasped like a fish out of water as he was ripped from the beauty and safety of his subconscious into the real world. His body shook, his eyes were blurry as Enid’s face came into focus. Her grimy face was tense in anger and worry, her bangs sticking to her cheeks and forehead with sweat and the humidity of the room. The only light came from a blue glow around them, accompanied by an ominous hum, which Rad supposed was either below them, or inside his head. As the ringing in his ears subsided and his vision grew more clear, he realized he was lying on a cold, bumpy metal floor. He grunted as he slowly lifted to a sitting position. Enid stood poised above him, watching as he rubbed his aching neck. 

“What…. What happened?” He groaned. 

“You passed out after you fell in the bend of the tunnel. I carried you here. I thought you’d wake up along the way, but you sleep like a log.” Enid replied. Rad looked up to her, slightly silhouetted against the blue light. 

“Carried me to….” Rad’s eyes widened as he saw the huge, glowing pillar behind Enid. 

“What is  _ this _ ?” He asked in awe. Enid placed a hand on the tube. 

“This is what’s been causing the earthquakes! Someone is sucking glorbs through this tube from somewhere deep under the Bodega!” She turned to Rad, her eyes wild and burning with excitement. Rad’s brow furrowed, dumbfounded at what he was hearing, but also at her sudden change in mood. She no longer looked angry, but now she just looked kind of insane; exhausted, yet filled with an unexpected vigor, and completely disheveled, all backlit from the ominous glow of the pillar. 

“Uh, that’s great Enid! We should get out of here and tell Mr. Gar, he’ll know what to do.” He said as he shakily stood from the metal floor. Enid grinned with a dark sense of determination.

“Oh I  _ know _ what to do.”  She lifted her knee, sparking a flame around her foot. Rad gasped and quickly lunged forward, grabbing her adjacent arm to spin her away from the pillar. 

“WAIT! We can’t just destroy it, we don’t even know what it is!” Enid frowned, stomping her foot back down, immediately extinguishing the flame. 

“I know exactly what it is; it’s  _ evil _ ! Why else would it be sucking up so many glorbs?? Let’s just destroy it, which will stop whoever is stealing the globs, and BOOM, no more earthquakes! Everybody in Lakewood can go back to shovelling Gar’s ice cream down their throats, and I can go back to sleeping on the job.” She made a move to turn back to the tube before Rad stepped between her and it, putting his hands out before him defensively. 

“Enid, that’s crazy! We don’t even know what’ll happen if we just smash it, it could make everything worse!” He lowered his hands. 

“Look…. It’s a little hard to explain, but something’s going on with you, with  _ both _ of us. Let’s just go back up to the Bodega, Mr. Logic can help us, and Mr. Gar will take care of this.” Enid’s confused face tensed into an insulted glare. 

“Wha?? No! I discovered this, I should be the one to take it down!” Rad looked at her more seriously than she’d ever seen him. 

“No, you don’t understand, something is very  _ very  _ wrong with you right now.” Enid clenched her teeth and took a deep breath. She relaxed slightly, forcing a slightly awkward smile.

“Look, if this is about earlier, I just lost my temper for a minute, that’s all.” Rad shook his head, his face deeply concerned. 

“No Enid, this is different. You’ve been… uncomfortable since last night, haven’t you? Like, physically?” He asked. Enid tensed slightly, recalling all the strange, physical discomfort she’d been feeling, and was still feeling. Not to mention the random, unexplained bursts of hyper-sensetivity. 

“W-well, I dunno…” She mumbled, shifting in her stance. Not exactly an admission, Rad realized, but he could see the discomfort practically radiating off of her. 

“All this you’re going through…. It’s my fault.” He exhaled the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. 

“Oh cob, Enid, I’m so sorry…. It’s all my fault…. I didn’t know what I was doing, but….” He ran his fingers through his hair, his eyes going glassy with tears forming, blurring his vision. Enid stared at him tensely, a vexed expression frozen across her face. 

“What are you talking about?” She asked. 

“That thing, the thing I did back at the Bodega yesterday, when I grabbed your face. That was…. An Externillian thing. I swear I had no idea, I only learned about it last night but…. But now we’re both in trouble because of it.” Enid’s face grew more afraid as she listened. Her hand absentmindedly travelled up to her face. 

“That was….” She breathed, recalling the storm of sensations from last night. Her face contorted angrily. 

“What kind of “Externillian thing”? What have you done to me!?” Rad struggled to maintain eye contact as Enid’s expression grew ever more enraged. 

“What did you DO!?” She demanded, her voice growing louder. Rad closed his eyes tight. 

“I…. I tried to bond with you.” He said quickly. Enid was quiet for a moment. 

“What?” She asked. Rad opened his eyes wide, his shoulders tense.

“It was all just instinct, I promise!” He said. Enid shook her head, stepping back slightly. 

“No, what does that  _ mean _ ? You tried to  _ bond  _ with me??” 

“Oh! Well, uh….” He looked around for his duffel bag, kneeling to grab it and pawing through its contents till he found his book. With shaky, sweaty hands he flipped through it’s pages till he found the page with the translator still stuck in the crease. 

“Shit….” He muttered, realizing he’d neglected to switch it off after last night, and it was now dead. 

“What is  _ that _ ?” Enid asked. Rad looked up at her nervously. 

“It’s a book, a medical book all about…. Externillian reproduction.” Enid’s eyebrows flicked upwards. 

“ _ Excuse _ me?” She asked. Rad gulped as he stood. He turned the book around and held it up to show Enid the illustration. 

“Well, see, there’s this thing we do, it’s called a mating bond. It connects the brains of Externillains when we…. When we mate.” Enid took the book from him, scrutinizing the illustration and the words, which she could not read. She shook her head, letting out a nervous laugh. 

“This…. This is ridiculous. And frankly, I’m a little disappointed.” She said. Rad stared at her in confusion and disbelief.  

“What?” He asked. Enid closed the book and held it to her side. 

“Honestly, of all the crap you’ve tried to pull just to embarrass me, or mess with me, this has gotta be one of your weaker stunts.” She laughed. 

“Oooh, Enid, my antenna which I can pop off and regrow at will have totally invaded your mind, making you wanna bang me.” She wagged her arms back and forth, imitating his voice as she spoke. She then tossed him the book with a frown. 

“Honestly, I kinda expected better at this point Rad.” Rad fumbled to catch the book, looking up at her with concern and frustration. 

“No, Enid, I’m serious! I didn’t think I actually did anything to you when I started the bond, but from the way you’ve been acting, Mr. Logic thinks-” 

“Mr. Logic? What does he have to do with any of this?” Enid interrupted. 

“Well, after you punched me, he figured out that I was going through the mating cycle, and then-” 

“Wait, wait-  _ Mating cycle _ ??” Enid’s eyes were wide, her face filled with vexed amusement. 

“What the  _ hell _ is a  _ mating cycle _ ?” She asked with a voice of incredulous laughter. Rad frowned, growing frustrated from the interruptions. 

“That’s a….” In any other situation, that would have been an immensely invasive and inappropriate question. But considering the situation, Rad figured she had a right to know. He took a breath as he returned the book to his bag. 

“It’s this thing we Externillains go through every month, starting when we become teenagers. We get this unbelievable urge for… sex. It’s a leftover trait from our more primitive days or something. We can’t control it, I had no idea what I was doing! If I had known what that was, I would have never,  _ ever _ let myself do it!” Enid stepped back as she listened, a million thoughts running through her head. 

“So you’re telling me, you’ve been going through this ‘ _ mating cycle’ _ thing this whole time?” She asked. Rad nodded. 

“And when you grabbed my face, it was ‘cause you wanted to have  _ sex  _ with me?” She asked. Rad threw his hands up as if Enid were a cop. 

“NO! Well, yes, in a way I guess, but I-” 

“I can’t believe this….” Enid hissed under her breath. She turned and lowered her face, hiding her eyes behind her damp bangs. Rad slowly lowered his hands. 

“What…?” He asked. Enid lifted her face, her eyes ablaze with fury. 

“It’s bad enough getting sexual harassment from assholes at work, but I never,  _ ever _ expected it from you!” Her voice cracked a little as she spoke, and Rad noticed a glassiness of unshed tears upon her eyes. He felt his heart crack within his chest. He’d never really thought about it, but that look reminded him how much Enid had trusted him. And how badly he’d broken that trust.  

“Oh Enid….” He murmured, stepping forward, holding a hand out to her. Enid groaned out loud, swatting his hand away. 

“I am destroying this thing, I am getting out of here, and then I’m quitting! I’m done with the Bodega, and I’m done with YOU!” She shouted in his face. Rad gaped as he stepped back. Enid lifted her leg and ignited her foot once more. 

“Wait, no!!” He cried, but it was too late. 

“HIYAH!! Enid called as she swiftly spun around, landing a powerful blow with her heel upon the pillar. A loud boom sounded through the stone chamber, and the pillar shook. A small crack through the glass formed, betraying how incredibly thick the tube really was. 

“Dammit…” Enid hissed, preparing herself for another kick. 

“Enid, stop!!” Rad begged. At that moment the rumbling began again, and the room began to shake violently. Enid gasped as she was thrown off her balance, staggering back from the powerful shaking. Rad caught her just as the two of them fell to the ground. He looked down at her in his arms for a moment before the pillar began to glow brighter than before, the hum growing louder, filling the room. A single glorb shot up through the glowing tube, followed by many more as the shaking grew more violent than it had before. Rad gasped as he noticed the crack Enid had made in the glass getting bigger, stretching up and down the length of the pillar. 

“WE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE!” He bellowed over the powerful rumbling of the tube. Without another word, he pulled Enid to her feet and ran as fast as his legs would take him back through the tunnel.

“WAIT, THAT’S THE WRONG-” Enid’s voice was interrupted as a sudden rushing flood of hot water swept the two teens off their feet, surging them along through a tunnel as the rumbling darkness swallowed them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flushed!  
> Fun Fact; The scenery of Rad's little passed-out dream was originally totally different. The bit with Enid was the same, but I wrote him waking up in a room of all white, like he died or something. However, after watching the "Planet X" episode, I just HAD to include that gorgeous purple landscape! The moment I saw it I thought; "It matches Enid's hair!" and the change was inevitable.


	13. Enter the Tunnel Maker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody!  
> It's been about 3 weeks since I've posted, and this has so many more hits and kudos! I'm so happy and so honored, I just hope everybody is enjoying it so far! My posting frequency may remain as slow as it has been lately, since I've started my first year of college! I'm having a lot of fun chipping away at this story in between the work tho, so don't give up on me!

“So, how bad is it doc?” Carol asked tentatively. K.O looked up at the old yet sprightly and cheerful doctor fastening his arm sling. 

“Am I going to be able to work?” He asked sadly. The doctor smiled kindly. 

“Of course! You pulled your arm pretty bad, and you’ve got some nasty bruising in the bone, but it should start feeling better in a few weeks. You must be pretty tough, not even a fracture!” K.O, Carol, and Mr. Gar exhaled in relief. 

“Oh thank crackers!” K.O said happily. Carol affectionately ruffled her son’s hair. 

“Aw, that’s my tough little dumbbell!” She laughed. 

“You can take off as much time as you need, K.O.” Mr. Gar assured him. K.O jumped up from the paper-covered medical bed. The Doctor nodded. 

"That's a good idea, you'll need to take it easy for a while after all." He said as he adjusted his glasses, which were comically too small for his old face. 

“No way! I’ve still got this arm!” K.O said as he waved his good arm in the air. “Besides, Enid and Rad are gonna be super tired when they get back from their underground mission!” 

“Right, Enid and Radicles….” Gar grumbled, realizing he'd almost forgotten the two employees in the chaos of worry for K.O. The old doctor placed a hand on K.O’s shoulder. 

“Come now, let’s get a lollypop for the good little patient.” He said. K.O jumped on his toes excitedly. 

“Oh boy!” He said as he jumped along. Carol turned to Gar. Her half-lidded eyes were affectionate as she smirked. 

“I’ve never seen _Mr. Gar_ just give out time off for anyone.” Gar blushed bright red. 

“Well, um, of course I would let him- he really-” Carol placed a gloved hand on the large man’s cheek. Gar froze in place, his eyes wide and shining above his glasses. 

“Eugene…. You know what we discussed… _earlier_?” Gar’s blush lessened as his expression went serious. 

“Yes?” He asked tentatively. Carol bit her lip as her eyes veered off to the side. 

“Well I know I said I’m not exactly ready…. Yet. But you know…. When I _am_ , I think you’ll be a great dad for K.O.” Her eyes returned to his, which were welling up with joyous tears. Carol laughed, feeling a swell of love and affection for the man. She stood on her toes to wrap her arms around his shoulders and kiss him deeply. 

* * *

Rad’s cough echoed through the darkness, forcing water out of his lungs. His body burned from the heat of the water, which gave him the feeling of being dunked in a pot of spaghetti cooking on a stove. As he forcefully breathed in the stale air, his obscured vision detected little twinkles of light all around him. After a moment of regaining a slightly normal composure, he squinted, scanning his surroundings. He lay in a dark cave, the rock ceiling hanging low several feet above. Glorbs of various sizes floated directionlessly in the warm, humid air, illuminating the rock room. He sat up, groaning from the painfully dizzy feeling in his head. He gasped as he spotted the dark outline of Enid lying on her side amongst the glorbs. 

“Enid!” He gasped, straining to speak after all the coughing. He hurried to her side, dropping to his knees on the stone to lift her limp, soaked torso from the puddle she lay in. Her hoodie and sweatpants were completely soaked, clinging to her body. Her helmet had luckily stayed on, but was dislodged to the side. Her face flinched before she suddenly convulsed, throwing her head forward as she spat and coughed out water. Rad held her steady in his arms as she desperately gasped, her breathing akin to a lifelong smoker with her waterlogged lungs. 

“Are you hurt anywhere!?” Rad asked, frantically looking her over. After a moment, Enid turned to him, her eyes slightly bloodshot. 

“I’m _fine_.” She grunted in a hoarse voice. She attempted to shove Rad away from her, only to be caught helpless in a fit of coughing once more. Just as Rad began to grow uneasy, Enid shook like her body was being bombarded with electricity, before finally coughing up a pearl-sized glorb. The two watched the glorb bounce away with impressive mobility in the opposite direction they had been washed into. The two teens looked back to the opening they had been flushed through, only to find it had completely caved in, with jagged, broken rocks from the floor to the ceiling. 

“I guess _that’s_ our only out of here....” Rad pointed in the direction the tiny glorb had bounced. Enid stood, giving Rad an inadvertent (but not wholly unintended) shove as she braced off his shoulder for balance. 

“Forget that, let’s just use those ray guns and bust out of here.” She said in a slightly shaky voice as she pawed in the darkness for her duffel bag. 

“That doesn’t sound like a good idea, Enid. If breaking that glorb-tube thing was enough to cave in this tunnel, who knows what it’s like on the other side? There could be glorb water up to the ceiling for all we know!” Rad looked around at the dim bleakness surrounding them.

“Besides, this place clearly wasn’t meant to be structurally sound, shooting anywhere could bring the whole thing down.” He looked down at Enid who had successfully located a duffel bag. She groaned from the back of her throat. 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right….” Enid said. She felt a heavy sense of guilt for losing her cool and breaking the glorb pillar. It was evil, and it did need to be destroyed, but she knew she’d messed up as soon as the damn thing started to crack. 

 _“What is wrong with me?? Why can’t I think clearly today!?”_ Enid thought desperately. An unwanted answer popped into her head, and her eyes immediately met with the dripping duffel bag at her feet. She knelt down to unzip the bag, and promptly glared. 

“Besides, this one’s yours. You’re lucky these things are waterproof, it’s got your crummy book in it.” She re-zipped the bag before tossing it at Rad. Rad pouted as he clumsily caught it with both arms. 

“It’s not ‘crummy’! I’ll have you know it’s a very professional and distinguished piece of Externillian medical literature, thank you very much.” He said in a ‘matter-of-fact-ly” attitude. Enid scoffed. 

“Sure, sure, a _‘professional and distinguished piece of Externillian medical literature’_  all about your creepy alien sex stuff.” She shot him a curt, yet hostile look as she fiddled with her hoodie drawstring, which had gotten awkwardly shifted in the tunnel flush. Rad looked down at her and pouted, shoving down the urge to argue the issue further. 

Enid pulled at the neck of her hoodie, squinting into the darkness under the fabric. 

 _“Why didn’t I wear a shirt under this?? What in world was I thinking ...?”_ She thought. The thick cloth had become heavy with the water, sticking to her skin like clingwrap. While the water which soaked it was warm and comforting now, she knew it’d only get colder and colder from here on. She shuddered, uncomfortably aware of how sharp her senses had become in the chaos of the tube bursting. She could feel every sopping fiber of the cloth glued to her, doubling the tingling waves of itchiness. But there was something else she could feel as well. The water felt odd… like it was filled with energy, somehow giving it a microscopic sort of vibration. It felt weird, unsettling, but also…. Kind of good? Like her skin was soaking up the trace amounts of natural glorb energy around her. 

“I don’t see your duffel bag anywhere.” Rad said from the other side of the cave. Enid looked up to see him holding a glorb, illuminating his path as he circled the section of tunnel. 

“Probably under the rocks….” Enid groaned. She hoisted herself up and gripped one of her boots. The fuzzy interior had become waterlogged, and would surely turn her feet into giant, useless raisins if she kept them on. 

“Which means _you_ get to carry these!” She declared as she wrestled the shoes off of her feet. Rad made a sickened face at the dripping-wet boot. 

“But my book-”

“I’ll carry your crummy book so it doesn’t get wet. It’s lighter than _these_ anyway.” Enid thrust the boots into Rad’s chest before gripping the duffel bag hanging at Rad’s hip. 

“Well, alright… But be careful with it! That’s library property!” He said firmly. Enid removed the book from the pack and rolled her eyes. 

“I’m not gonna hurt your precious sex book, _Rad_ .” Her eyes fixed on the cover for a moment. She had to admit, it did look _sorta_ official, even if she couldn’t read it. But she wasn’t convinced Rad was telling the truth about it’s contents…. There was no way….

“Not a sex book….” Rad muttered through pursed lips as the two began to make their way into the far length of the tunnel. 

“Right, right, it’s a _medical_ sex book. Gotcha.” Enid spoke, her words thick with conviction and sarchasm, but her voice was hoarse, breathy, and teemed with fatigue and discomfort. Rad gave her a sidelong look, studying her appearance in the dim glow of the glorbs as she flipped through the book. The water had washed away the sweat and grime, but somehow she looked worse. Her face, though freshly tanned was unusually pale, the undersides of her eyes were dark beneath her heavy, languid lids. She walked slowly, her footing lacking in its usual power and confidence that she carried with her. Her breath hissed through her lips, heavy and rapid. To someone who didn’t know her as well as he did, it may just appear as if she hadn’t had a very good night’s sleep, and that the rushing flood of water had thrown her off. While both were technically true, there was so much more going on with her in that moment, and Rad could sense it all. Her tension, the subtle shakiness of her gait, the way her eyes shifted with unease. In all the years he’d known her, he had never seen her so exhausted, or so miserably uncomfortable. And it was all his doing, he felt. He looked back at the ground in shame. 

“I’m sorry….” He said under his breath, barely audible if it weren’t for the otherwise dead silent tunnel. Enid refused to look up, her glare tightening as she resumed in silence. Finally, she sighed, her breath shaky and exasperated. 

“Personally, I think it’s all bullshit.” She grunted, snapping the book shut. Rad glanced over at her. 

“....What?” He asked in confusion. Enid weakly kicked a glorb.

“This whole “mating cycle” business just doesn’t make sense.” She said. Rad kicked a slightly smaller glorb, sending more light down their path. 

“It would explain how you’ve been acting.” He said pointedly. Enid crossed her arms, looking away. 

“I don’t see what’s so strange!” She insisted. Rad laughed a single, joyless "Ha", the noise trimmed with disbelief.

“You don’t?? How about _screaming_ at K.O like he’d murdered someone? Running off underground by yourself when you _knew_ he was hurt... giving me _this_!?” He stretched his neck and pointed at the bite mark, which still looked quite fresh, despite having been thoroughly washed in glorb water. Enid chewed her lip with shame as she looked over the bite. 

“I know you’re not super familiar with Externillain sexual customs, but for humans, a bite on the _neck_ can sometimes mean-” 

“I KNOW what it means!” Enid loudly interrupted, cutting off Rad’s sentence before it could go somewhere she did not want it to. She felt the rush of itchy tingles pulse through her, somehow even stronger than before. She breathed hard, wiping her wet bangs out of her face as her mind ached with a storm of thoughts, each one leading to the same, unsavory conclusion. She gulped before groaning slightly, her pace slowed even further. 

“O-okay… so maybe I do feel some kind of…. _Instinct_.” Enid looked around, as if frantically searching her mind for each word.

“Like, a _frustrated_ one, and I just want to…” She hesitated, clenching her teeth and closing her eyes. Each word seemed to ache in her throat as she forced them out, all the while wanting anything but to expose how she really felt, especially to herself. 

She wanted to run, she wanted to scream, to chase something and tear it open like an animal. But more than anything, the thought that dominated her mind over all else, was the unshakable desire for _sex_. Though, ‘desire’ seemed like too gentle of a word for how she was feeling. She’d never wanted it _this_ badly in all her post-pubescent years. She wanted to be completely undone, ravaged till she was brought to the point of utter exhaustion, then maybe, _maybe_ she could _finally_ relax. And for some reason, that desire took the form in her mind as Rad. No other form seemed to do it for her horny, muddled mind; not a former lover, or any attractive person she may have considered if this were a mere matter of physical needs. No, it seemed that no matter what fantasy she envisioned to keep her stress occupied (as she had admittedly been doing all day), Rad always seemed to be the co-star in her mental porno, which had been growing more intense by every passing minute. And it had been confusing the living hell out of her. 

Enid’s eyes sharply met Rad’s with a fervent glare.

“But the idea that you could ‘bond’ with me…. It’s ludicrous! What does it even mean!?” She cried. Rad returned her glare with a look of seriousness.

“It means we link our minds and bodies together through telepathic binding of our nervous systems. For Externillains, we use our antenne to make the connection.” He said. Enid gestured an arm at her head. 

“Well there you go, there’s no way you could’ve done that, I don’t have any antenne! That means no freaky alien sex telepathy.” She said nonchalantly. Rad breathed sharply through his teeth, trying to keep his composure, despite how thoroughly insulting Enid was unknowingly being with each snide remark about Externillain mating. 

“I really thought so too, but Mr. Logic says it’s not impossible. Apparently humans can do some kind of telepathy, my antenne just gave them a way to channel it. It was just a few seconds, but I guess that’s all it takes. That being the case….” he hesitated. His heart pounded in his chest, the tingles and itches wrapping painfully around him as his anxiety grew. He wished this whole thing could’ve been different. But with little more to say, the time for utmost honestly had come. 

“We _have_ to finish the bond, Enid.” Enid tensed even more than she already was. 

“What!?” She asked. Rad gulped. 

“I know, I know how it sounds, but just listen-” 

“Oh-ho-ho no, NO!” Enid demanded loudly. She thrust a hand out, pointing accusingly at him and began to walk backwards away from him, her glaring eyes boring holes into his. 

“You are NOT forcing me into your disgusting, E.T brain-sex again!” She yelled, her shouts bouncing loudly off the walls. In one swift movement she frisbee-tossed the book at Rad and spun sharply away from him and began marching down the tunnel. Rad barely caught the book before it fell into a puddle. He felt a heavy, painful ball of mortification and rejection drop in his stomach before his heart burned with indignant frustration and offence. He shoved the book in the bag, hoping that setting it on the opposite side of the boots would be enough to keep it safe before he sprinted to catch up with her. 

“It’s not disgusting! It’s a beautiful and intimate process shared between lovers! It’s romantic, AND sexy!” He insisted. Enid stopped dead in her tracks. As Rad drew close enough to see her face, he practically felt his soul curl in on itself, and hide deep within his bowels. Enid looked more than angry, more than furious even. She held within her eyes the look of Satan, gazing over a sea of sinners, ready to smite them. 

“Beautiful? Intimate? Romantic? _Sexy_??” She hissed each word, leaving a burning moment of silence between each one. 

“How was what you did last night ANY of those things?? How exactly do you think that was okay?? And why, _why_ for the love of _COB_ would you think I would _EVER_ agree to doing it again!?” She asked. The subtle echo through the tunnel mimicked perfectly how her words were forever branded upon Rad’s mind. His ears and shoulders drooped, his heart fell. She was right, he knew she was right, he just hadn’t put it to words quite like that. He felt the powerful sting as his tear ducts began working and his vision grew blurry, but he fought it back. Crying would do absolutely no good. 

“I know… it wasn’t okay. It wasn’t any of those things. And you’re right, you don’t have to agree to finish the bond with me. Maizus, I kinda don’t even want to do it either!” His face fell miserably.

“The mating bond is supposed to be sacred…it's supposed to be the most amazing and romantic thing an Externillian could ever experience. You’re only supposed to do it when both people are really, _really_ ready. But I didn't know, and I fucked it up. But if I had known it… I would’ve hoped…” He gazed into her dark eyes, her glare more painful than anything he’d felt before. 

“...That I could’ve actually _asked_ you to do it with me one day…” He breathed, feeling the words pour out before he realized it was true, but it was. The desire to bond with her last night hadn’t come out of nowhere. Imprinting or not, he couldn’t think of anyone he was so close to, so comfortable to really express himself around, or anyone he admired and adored as much as Enid. Of course there was K.O, and his family, but with Enid it was different. With Enid, there was the added feeling of longing, and a certain thrill that came with her presence. That thrill had begun with that rib-crushing kick she'd delivered to his chest all those years ago, and it had never quite gone away as long as he’d known her. He could veg out on the couch in his pajamas watching documentaries for hours with her without feeling uncomfortable for one second, but still feel his heart skip a beat when their legs tangled under the blanket, or when she’d rest her head on his shoulder. It was such a good feeling, knowing how important he was to her, because he felt the same way. And now that connection was in danger. 

Enid’s glare relaxed into a look of mixed apprehension and wonder. 

“Rad….” She breathed. Rad gulped, returning his thoughts to the present.

“But there’s something else. Enid, we have to finish the bond because-”

“NYE HE HE HE!” A sudden, sharp sound echoed through the tunnel, causing Rad and Enid to jump simultaneously. The all too familiar, mocking laughter of a mechanical voice made the bodega workers cringe. 

“Maizus Cob, not now….” Rad hissed under his breath. Two dots of light twinkled from within the darkness, and the silhouette of Darrell and Shannon emerged from within the tunnel. 

“Looks like we’ve caught a couple of rats in our snake hole, Darrell!” Shannon’s voice echoed. 

“Indeed we have, Shannon!” Darrell’s voice followed. 

“Oh for the love of Cob…” Enid muttered, looking already done with whatever was about to happen. The two robots came into view, both wearing reflective jumpsuits and hard hats. 

“Hello, Lakewood lo-” Shannon began, but stopped abruptly. Her eyes widened, her robotic mouth twisting into a look of disgust. 

“Ew. You two look…. Terrible!” She placed a hand on her chest, veering back slightly as if the two organic beings were emitting some terrible smell. Darrell copied the expression of disgust, his single eye looking them over. 

“What _happened_ to you?” He asked. Enid and Rad exchanged a look. 

“Uhh…” Rad turned back to the Boxmore bots, wondering if he should really answer truthfully, but also filled with confusion as to their presence in the first place. Enid stepped forward. 

“None of your business! What are _you two_ doing down here!?” She demanded. Shannon and Darrell resumed their typical composure. 

“None of your business!” Shannon parroted mockingly. Darrell shrugged. 

“But if you really must know, why don’t you ask our new friend?” The two bots stepped apart, revealing Small Calf Demon standing behind them. The little cyborg bull grinned evilly and stomped his hooves. 

“Heya, stinkin’ heroes!” He said as he pointed his drill hand at them. Rad and Enid stepped back slightly. 

“Big Bull Demon has a son!?” Rad asked in exasperated confusion. Small Calf Demon crossed his pudgy, metallic arms. 

“Shows what you know! I’m Small Calf Demon, Big Bull Demon’s nephew!” Enid glanced back at Rad. 

“For real?” She whispered. Small Calf Demon pounded his hooves into the ground. 

“Yes, _for real_ ! And with Professor Venomous and Boxman’s help, I’m a _for real_ villain now too! So today, I’m gonna take you down myself!” He bellowed. 

“Professor Venomous and Boxman!?” Rad gasped. Suddenly the little robotic bull charged at the unprepared Lakewood teens, who both promptly blacked out in a flurry of stars before their eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small Calf Demon! Infamous nephew of Big Bull Demon, and the only pint-sized villain capable of digging such tunnels!  
> Lol, at first I had planned on Venomous and Boxman having one of those big ol' sand worms that they either trained or mind-controlled, but once Small Calf Demon was introduced, it was just too perfect!  
> Also, just in case I don't end up writing it in, or explaining it in-story, Yes, Carol was referring to her and Gar's eventual marriage! :3


End file.
